HAver (there is/are)

Here is the best news you will hear today. The verb haver is impersonal when used for existence. What does that mean? It means it never changes for plural things. In English, we change "is" to "are." In Portuguese, há stays exactly the same. One car? Use há. Ten cars? Still use há. It is like a grammar cheat code. You do not need to worry about conjugation. You do not need to count objects. You just say há and move on. It is the lone wolf of the Portuguese verb system. It does its own thing. It does not care about your plural nouns. This makes your life much easier. Even native speakers sometimes forget this. They might try to make it plural. But you will know better. You will be the grammar star.

1. 1Using haver is a three-step process. It is easier than making toast.
2. 2Start your sentence with the word há.
3. 3Add the number or the article (like um or muitos).
4. 4Add the noun you are talking about.
5. 5That is it. There is no step four.
6. 6Example: Há + um + café = Há um café (There is a cafe).
7. 7Example: Há + dois + cafés = Há dois cafés (There are two cafes).
8. 8Notice how há stayed the same? That is the beauty of it. It is steady. It is reliable. It is the rock of your sentence. If you want to ask a question, just change your tone. Raise your voice at the end. Há um café? (Is there a cafe?). It is that simple. You are already a pro.

Use haver whenever you want to say something exists. Imagine you are in a new city. You are lost. You need a pharmacy. You ask: Há uma farmácia perto daqui? (Is there a pharmacy near here?). This is a real-world lifesaver.

Use it for job interviews too. You might ask: Há muitas vagas? (Are there many openings?). It shows you have good grammar.

Use it at a restaurant. Há mesas lá fora? (Are there tables outside?).

Use it for time. This is a special trick. Há dois anos means "two years ago." It shows existence in time. It is like saying "there are two years since then." It is very common. You will sound very sophisticated. Just don't use it to talk about the weather. We have other verbs for that. Think of haver as the "existence expert."

Do not use haver to show possession. In English, we say "I have a dog." In Portuguese, you use ter for that. Eu tenho um cão. If you say Há um cão, you mean "There is a dog." The dog isn't yours. It's just there.

Also, do not use it for specific locations of people. If you want to say "João is at home," use estar. O João está em casa. Haver is for existence in general.

Think of it like a grammar traffic light. Green light for "there is/are." Red light for "I own this." It is a clear distinction. Don't cross the lines. Your Portuguese friends will thank you. Well, they might not thank you out loud, but they will understand you perfectly.

The biggest mistake is the "plural trap." People see a plural noun and panic. They think: "I must make the verb plural!" They try to say hão. Please, do not do this. Hão exists, but not for "there are." If you say Hão muitos livros, a Portuguese teacher might cry. Keep it as há.

Another mistake is confusing há with a. They sound the same. Há is the verb. A is a preposition or an article. Há dez minutos (Ten minutes ago). Vou a Lisboa (I am going to Lisbon).

Yes, even native speakers mess this up in text messages. It is the "your" vs "you're" of Portuguese. If you get this right, you are already ahead of the game. You are basically a scholar now. Wear that badge with pride.

You will hear people use ter instead of haver. Especially in Brazil. They say Tem um café aqui. In casual speech, this is fine. It is like wearing jeans to a party. It is comfortable. It is common.

But haver is the tuxedo. It is more formal. It is better for writing. If you are writing an email to a boss, use há. If you are talking to a friend in a bar in Rio, tem is okay.

Also, compare it to existir. Existir is a normal verb. It *does* change for plural. Existem muitos problemas. Há muitos problemas. Both are correct. But há is much more common. It is shorter. It is punchier. Why use seven letters when two will do? Efficiency is key.