Existência: tem (falado) e há (escrito)
Existência: tem (falado) e há (escrito) means “"There is / there are" is tem in speech and há in writing — both never take plural”. Spanish has one invariable form, hay. Formation: tem + substantivo (falado) · há + substantivo (escrito/formal) — ambos invariáveis
"There is / there are" is tem in speech and há in writing — both never take plural
A1Formation
tem + substantivo (falado) · há + substantivo (escrito/formal) — ambos invariáveis
Explanation
Spanish has one invariable form, hay. Portuguese has two, split by register. In everyday Brazilian speech the normal word is tem: Tem muita gente aqui. In writing, journalism and formal speech you use há: Há muita gente aqui. European Portuguese keeps há in speech too, so tem is a specifically Brazilian habit — and a very strong one: in informal spoken corpora tem accounts for the large majority of existential sentences. Both verbs are impersonal here, which means they never agree with what follows: say Houve muitos problemas, never houveram; Tem muitas pessoas, never têm.
Examples
Note
há also means "ago": Terminei a faculdade há um mês. Spanish uses hacer here (hace un mes) — a systematic verb swap. Brazilians often say faz um mês instead.
FAQ
Existência: tem (falado) e há (escrito) — what does it mean and how is it used?
"There is / there are" is tem in speech and há in writing — both never take plural. Spanish has one invariable form, hay. Portuguese has two, split by register. In everyday Brazilian speech the normal word is tem: Tem muita gente aqui. In writing, journalism and formal speech you use há: Há muita gente aqui. European Portuguese keeps há in speech too, so tem is a specifically Brazilian habit — and a very strong one: in informal spoken corpora tem accounts for the large majority of existential sentences. Both verbs are impersonal here, which means they never agree with what follows: say Houve muitos problemas, never houveram; Tem muitas pessoas, never têm.
Existência: tem (falado) e há (escrito) — how do you form it?
tem + substantivo (falado) · há + substantivo (escrito/formal) — ambos invariáveis
Existência: tem (falado) e há (escrito) — any usage notes?
há also means "ago": Terminei a faculdade há um mês. Spanish uses hacer here (hace un mes) — a systematic verb swap. Brazilians often say faz um mês instead.