Había vs. hubo

Question

In the quiz, I selected "Había muchos niños en el parque." This was marked wrong, rather, "Hubo muchos niños en el parque."

I'm wondering why my answer was marked wrong, given that one of the examples in the lesson is nearly identical to my answer: "Había un perro en el parque."

Silvia Piriz · Accepted Answer

Hola Kate A.
Great question — this is a very common point of confusion when learning about "había" vs. "hubo". Both mean “there was/were”, but they are used in different contexts based on how the past action is viewed.
“Había” (Imperfect)
Used to describe a past scene, background, or ongoing state — it's more descriptive and doesn’t focus on when the situation started or ended.
Example:
Había un perro en el parque. → There was a dog in the park (we're setting the scene, no specific time frame).
“Hubo” (Preterite)
Used for completed events or situations that are viewed as whole and bounded in time. In your quiz question, it says: “There were many children in the park” as a completed action in the past.
So, the correct choice is: "Hubo muchos niños en el parque". This suggests the presence of the children was one-time, event-like, and completed.
In contrast, Había muchos niños en el parque would be correct if we were describing a setting, like in a story or narrative.
Hope that clears things up a bit! You're on the right track noticing the subtle difference.
Un saludo
Silvia