Using the Wrong Past Tense

'Habían' is your time machine word. It helps you talk about an action that happened *before another action* in the past. It always teams up with another verb ending in '-ado' or '-ido', like 'habían comido' (they had eaten).

The 'Before-Past' Tense

'Habían' is a fantastic tool for storytelling. It helps your listener understand the sequence of events clearly. First, they had finished dinner. Then, the movie started.

Telling a Story in Order

Extremely common. It's the standard way to talk about an action that happened before another past event.

The 'Official' Rule vs. Real Life

You can use 'habían' to say 'there were' when talking about more than one thing. For example, 'Habían dos gatos' (There were two cats). It's the past version of 'hay' (there is/are).

Saying 'There Were'

Use 'habían' to set the scene in a story. It's a great way to describe what a place was like in the past: 'En el parque habían árboles altos y flores de colores' (In the park, there were tall trees and colorful flowers).

Painting a Picture with Words

Very common in everyday speech across the Spanish-speaking world to describe the existence of multiple things in the past.

Learn the two key meanings of 'habían' in Spanish. Understand how to use 'habían' as the auxiliary verb 'had' (e.g., they had left) and as the common conversational term for 'there were' (e.g., there were three cars). Full verb tables for 'haber' included.

habían

Complete Conjugation Tables

🔄 Conjugations

indicative

present

future

imperfect

conditional

preterite

subjunctive

present

imperfect

Practice Conjugations