In Spanish we use había to say there was or there were. Read and listen to these examples:
Había un perro en el parque.
There was a dog in the park.
Había dos perros en el parque.
There were two dogs in the park.
Había un niño en la clase.
There was a child in the classroom.
Había demasiados niños.
There were too many kids.
Había una buena oferta para ir a Tenerife.
There was a good offer to go to Tenerife.
Había descuentos para estudiantes.
There were discounts for students.
See also Using hubo = there was / there were (simple past)
Learn more about these related Spanish grammar topics
Examples and resources
Había un perro en el parque.
There was a dog in the park.
Había un niño en la clase.
There was a child in the classroom.
Había dos perros en el parque.
There were two dogs in the park.
Había demasiados niños.
There were too many kids.
Había una buena oferta para ir a Tenerife.
There was a good offer to go to Tenerife.
Había descuentos para estudiantes.
There were discounts for students.
Q&A
Inma
Kwiziq language super star
2/12/17
William
Kwiziq community member
7/12/17
Steve
Kwiziq community member
6 April 2018
3 replies
hubo/había with a set time
“Maria told us there was a meeting at 4”
hubo is incorrect here, but I thought with a set time it became ‘hubo’? What am I missing?
Silvia
Kwiziq language super star
6 April 2018
6/04/18
¡Hola Steve!
We are sorry about this mistake, it is true that we should use the indefinido instead of the imperfecto in this case with a set time. We have just changed that question to avoid more problems in the future. Thank you for your contribution! Silvia.
Steve
Kwiziq community member
6 April 2018
6/04/18
Inma
Kwiziq language super star
7 April 2018
7/04/18
Hi Steve, as Silvia said, that sentence was changed to avoid confusion, as this is a more general lesson about "había". However bear in mind that when you do more advance lessons you may find "habia" combined with time phrases that seem more appropriate with the preterite. Those are also correct; they will be of a more specific usage though. We will have more lessons about usage soon.
Saludos,
Inma