📖LearnModule 4 · Lesson 14 of 30Basic User · CEFR A2, completedUnit 3 · El imperfecto — the way things were
Hay que, tengo que — you have to
Module 4 of the free Spanish course (CEFR A2, completed), lesson 14 of 30: Hay que + infinitive says what must be done, for everybody: Hay que comer verduras. On this page: 9 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
hay que
one has to
EYE keh
hay que comer verduras
you have to eat vegetables
eye keh koh-MEHR behr-DOO-rahs
tengo que
I have to
TEHN-goh keh
tengo que terminar
I have to finish
TEHN-goh keh tehr-mee-NAR
no se puede
you cannot (it is not allowed)
noh seh PWEH-deh
correr
to run
koh-RREHR
deber
to have to / must
deh-BEHR
yo debo
I must
yoh DEH-boh
peligroso
dangerous (m)
peh-lee-GROH-soh
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
La regla · The rule
Hay que + infinitive says what must be done, for everybody: Hay que comer verduras. Tener que + infinitive says who must: Tengo que terminar la tarea. Tienes que venir.
Y también · And also
Deber is the third duty verb: debo (I must), debes (you must). No se puede correr aquí — you cannot run here — is how a sign forbids. Es peligroso — it is dangerous — is why.
Ojo · Watch out
hay que has no person: hay que comer is "one must eat", for everybody. tengo que names the person: tengo que comer. Both take the infinitive.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 9 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with hay que.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write two sentences of your own that get the watch-out line right, then the two practice pages of workbook lesson 14 in Module 4 are the written half of this page.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.