As other users have commented, "había" seems to be the past-tense equivalent of "hay".
"Había" is the past imperfect conjugation of haber, but the present tense conjugations of haber (he has ha hemos han) do not include "hay".
Is the word "hay" some other conjugation of "haber", or is not actually from the same root word?
Hola Z. G. y David M.
Yes, "hay" and "había" do come from the same root verb, "haber". "Hay" is an irregular present-tense form used impersonally, while "había" is its imperfect past-tense equivalent.
The formation of "hay" is thought to come from a contraction of "ha" and an old demonstrative element, possibly "aquí" or "allí", as some historical sources suggest. Your observation about the standard conjugations of "haber" not including "hay" is valid—it’s an irregular form specifically for expressing existence in the present tense!
Saludos
Silvia
Under "haber", my CLAVE dictionary adds a note: "Cuando este verbo se usa como impersonal, la tercera persona del singular es 'hay'".
Quite possibly, it was derived by contracting "ha + aquí" or "ha + allí". Compare it with the French expression "il y a".
[You will have noticed that the subjunctive and some imperatives use that same 'modified root'].
>> I've just discovered www.elcastellano.org/eduardo-cortes ... ... which mentions that "y" used to mean "aquí" [or perhaps "ahí"] in early Spanish, and that it did indeed get attached to the "ha"...
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Test your Spanish to the CEFR standard
Find your Spanish level