Haver Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Portuguese

haver — to have — is one of the verbs you will use every day in Portuguese. It is a irregular -er verb, and it comes up in conversation, at work and at home. It is mostly an impersonal verb meaning “there is” or “there are”: há um livro na mesa. As a main verb meaning “to have” it survives mainly in formal and literary Portuguese, so in everyday speech you will meet há far more often than hei. Its pretérito perfeito is houve, and its compound tenses are built with ter, like every other verb. On this page you will find haver in real sentences, grouped by meaning and tense, two short texts that show it in context, the mistakes learners actually make with it, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself. The full conjugation tables are on the haver conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the haver pretérito perfeito tense page.

Example sentences with haver

In the present tense

  • “Há um livro na mesa.” — “There is a book on the table.”
  • The personal forms are: eu hei, tu hás, ele há, nós havemos, vós haveis, eles hão — but in everyday use only há (there is, there are) is common, because haver is normally impersonal.

In the pretérito perfeito

  • “Houve uma festa ontem.” — “There was a party yesterday.”
  • The personal forms are: eu houve, tu houveste, ele houve, nós houvemos, vós houvestes, eles houveram — but in everyday use the impersonal houve (there was, there were) is the form you will meet.

In other tenses

The same verb in the pretérito imperfeito, the futuro do presente, the futuro do pretérito, the presente do subjuntivo and the imperative — the tenses that complete the picture. All forms come from the verified tables.

  • “Havia muitas pessoas na festa.” — “There were many people at the party.”
  • “Haverá uma festa amanhã.” — “There will be a party tomorrow.”
  • “Haveria uma festa um dia.” — “There would be a party one day.”
  • “É importante que haja uma festa.” — “It is important that there be a party.”
  • “Haja paciência!” — “Have patience!”

How haver is used

The first thing to know about haver is its core meaning: to have. It is mostly an impersonal verb meaning “there is” or “there are”: há um livro na mesa. As a main verb meaning “to have” it survives mainly in formal and literary Portuguese, so in everyday speech you will meet há far more often than hei. Its pretérito perfeito is houve, and its compound tenses are built with ter, like every other verb. In everyday speech it appears most often in the present and the pretérito perfeito, the two tenses on this page, because most of what we say is either what we do every day or what we have just done. Learn those two tenses first and the rest of the conjugation becomes a matter of adding forms one at a time. The second thing to know is the company haver keeps. The present eu form is hei, and it pairs naturally with the time words todos os dias and sempre for habits, and with agora for what is happening right now. The pretérito perfeito composto eu form is tenho havido, and it pairs with ontem and esta semana for finished actions. When you learn a verb form, learn its time words with it, and choosing the tense becomes automatic. The third thing to know is what haver does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after eu you need hei, never haver. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the pretérito perfeito composto is tenho havido, built with ter, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle havido is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Haver in context

Há um livro na mesa. Houve uma festa ontem. Havia muitas pessoas na festa. Haverá uma festa amanhã. That is a normal day in Portuguese, and that is why haver is worth learning even though it is mostly impersonal. Each sentence uses a different tense, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — há, houve, havia, haverá — while the meaning stays the same: there is, there was, there will be. Tem havido muitas festas esta semana. Tinha havido uma festa antes do jantar. Terá havido uma festa até amanhã. Teria havido uma festa ontem. That was a normal week, but it is exactly in weeks like this that the compound tenses of haver appear: a finished action, a precise moment, and the story goes on. Compare these sentences with the simple ones above: the verb changes tense, but the basic meaning — there is, there was — does not change. That is the difference between a simple tense and a compound one.

Common mistakes

1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Eu haver um livro na mesa.”

✓ Right: “Há um livro na mesa.”

The infinitive haver never takes a subject. After eu you need the conjugated present form hei.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Eu hás um livro na mesa.”

✓ Right: “Há um livro na mesa.”

hás is the tu form, not the eu form. The eu form is hei — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Eu hei um livro na mesa ontem.”

✓ Right: “Houve uma festa ontem.”

Ontem points to the past, so use the pretérito perfeito houve here, not the present hei.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Eu sou havido um livro na mesa.”

✓ Right: “Tem havido muitas festas esta semana.”

haver takes ter in the pretérito perfeito composto. The eu form is tenho havido — the other auxiliary never belongs with this verb.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on haver across the tenses. Answers with explanations follow each question.

  1. What is the tu form of haver in the Present indicative (presente)?

    • A) hei
    • B) hás
    • C) há
    • D) havemos

  2. What is the eu form of haver in the Pretérito perfeito composto?

    • A) tens havido
    • B) tem havido
    • C) tenho havido
    • D) temos havido

  3. What is the ele/ela form of haver in the Pretérito imperfeito?

    • A) havias
    • B) havíamos
    • C) havíeis
    • D) havia

  4. What is the nós form of haver in the Futuro do presente?

    • A) haveremos
    • B) haverei
    • C) haverás
    • D) haverá

  5. What is the tu form of haver in the Futuro do pretérito?

    • A) haveria
    • B) haverias
    • C) haveríamos
    • D) haveríeis

  6. What is the eu form of haver in the Pretérito mais-que-perfeito simples?

    • A) houveras
    • B) houvéramos
    • C) houvera
    • D) houvéreis

  7. What is the nós form of haver in the Presente do subjuntivo?

    • A) haja
    • B) hajas
    • C) hajais
    • D) hajamos

  8. What is the gerund of haver?

    • A) havendo
    • B) havido
    • C) haver
    • D) hei

  9. What is the past participle of haver?

    • A) havendo
    • B) havido
    • C) haver
    • D) hei

  10. What does haver mean in English?

  • A) to be
  • B) —
  • C) to have
  • D) —

Answer key

  1. B) hás — the correct form is hás. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) tenho havido — the correct form is tenho havido. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) havia — the correct form is havia. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) haveremos — the correct form is haveremos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) haverias — the correct form is haverias. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) houvera — the correct form is houvera. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) hajamos — the correct form is hajamos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) havendo — the correct form is havendo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) havido — the correct form is havido. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. C) to have — the correct form is to have. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does haver mean in English?

haver means “to have”. You use it whenever you talk about to have in Portuguese, in the present, the past and the future.

Is haver regular or irregular?

haver is irregular. haver is irregular in presente, pretérito perfeito, pretérito mais-que-perfeito simples, presente do subjuntivo, pretérito imperfeito do subjuntivo, futuro do subjuntivo, imperativo afirmativo, imperativo negativo — learn those forms as a set.

What are the gerund and past participle of haver?

The gerund is havendo and the past participle is havido. The perfect tenses use ter + havido.

Where can I see the full conjugation of haver?

On the haver conjugation page — every tense, every person, with tables. The haver pretérito perfeito tense page goes deeper into its most practised tense.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for haver, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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