Want to actually learn this — with audio, spaced repetition and progress tracking?

Spanish · CEFR Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 32

¿Qué hay en tu casa? What is there in your house?

Talking about the house and rooms. Vocabulary: la casa, la habitación, la cocina, el baño, el salón, el dormitorio, la mesa, la silla, la cama, la puerta, la ventana. Key point: to say something EXISTS you use "hay" (there is / there are) — one invariable form: "Hay una mesa" (there is a table), "Hay dos sillas" (there are two chairs). To say WHERE a known thing is you use "estar": "La mesa está en la cocina" (the table is in the kitchen). English speakers mix the two and use "está" to introduce something new: "Está una mesa en la cocina" ✗ → "Hay una mesa en la cocina" ✓. Place prepositions: en (in/on), sobre (on top of), debajo de (under), al lado de (next to), entre (between), delante de (in front of), detrás de (behind). Pronunciation corner: "b" and "v" sound the same in Spanish. Culture 4: the Hispanic home — the flat, the courtyard and the siesta.

Dialogue

Está una mesa / Hay una mesa

Lucía Mike, ¿cómo es tu cocina? Mike, what is your kitchen like?
Mike Está una mesa y dos sillas. There is a table and two chairs. (slip: to introduce something new use "hay", not "está" — "Hay una mesa")
Lucía Con algo nuevo, "hay": "Hay una mesa y dos sillas". With something new, "hay": "Hay una mesa y dos sillas".
Mike Vale: hay una mesa. Y la mesa está al lado de la ventana. Okay: there is a table. And the table is next to the window.
Lucía ¡Perfecto! Ves la diferencia: hay (nuevo), está (dónde). Perfect! You see the difference: hay (new), está (where).
Mike Sí, ahora lo entiendo. ¡Gracias! Yes, now I get it. Thanks!

Dialogue

Mi piso nuevo — My new flat

Lucía Carlos, ¿cómo es tu piso nuevo? Carlos, what is your new flat like?
Carlos Es pequeño, pero hay dos habitaciones. It is small, but there are two rooms.
Lucía ¿Y dónde está la cocina? And where is the kitchen?
Carlos La cocina está al lado del salón, con una ventana grande. The kitchen is next to the living room, with a big window.
Lucía ¡Qué bien! ¿Hay un balcón? How nice! Is there a balcony?
Carlos Sí, hay un balcón pequeño con plantas. Yes, there is a small balcony with plants.

Vocabulary

汉字	POS	Meaning
la casa	n.f.	house, home
la habitación	n.f.	room
la cocina	n.f.	kitchen
el baño	n.m.	bathroom
el salón	n.m.	living room
el dormitorio	n.m.	bedroom
la mesa	n.f.	table
la silla	n.f.	chair
la cama	n.f.	bed
la puerta	n.f.	door
la ventana	n.f.	window

Grammar

"Hay" (existir) frente a "estar" (ubicar) "Hay" (to exist) vs "estar" (to locate)

Dos verbos hablan del lugar, pero no son iguales. "Hay" significa "existe / existen" y presenta algo NUEVO o indefinido; es invariable (siempre "hay", nunca cambia por número): "Hay una mesa", "Hay dos ventanas", "¿Hay un baño?". "Estar" dice DÓNDE está algo ya conocido (con "el/la" o un nombre): "La mesa está en la cocina", "El baño está al lado del salón". Regla sencilla: con un/una/dos/números → "hay"; con el/la/mi/nombre → "está/están". Error típico: los angloparlantes traducen "there is a table" con "está": "Está una mesa en la cocina" ✗ → "Hay una mesa en la cocina" ✓. Preposiciones para situar: en (in/on), sobre (encima), debajo de (under), al lado de (next to), entre (between), delante de, detrás de. Con "de" + "el" → "del": "al lado del baño".

Two verbs talk about place, but they are not the same. "Hay" means "there is / there are" and presents something NEW or indefinite; it is invariable (always "hay", never changes for number): "Hay una mesa", "Hay dos ventanas", "¿Hay un baño?". "Estar" says WHERE a known thing is (with "el/la" or a name): "La mesa está en la cocina", "El baño está al lado del salón". Simple rule: with un/una/dos/numbers → "hay"; with el/la/mi/a name → "está/están". Typical mistake: English speakers translate "there is a table" with "está": "Está una mesa en la cocina" ✗ → "Hay una mesa en la cocina" ✓. Prepositions to locate: en (in/on), sobre (on top), debajo de (under), al lado de (next to), entre (between), delante de (in front of), detrás de (behind). With "de" + "el" → "del": "al lado del baño".

Hay una cama en el dormitorio. There is a bed in the bedroom.
La silla está al lado de la mesa. The chair is next to the table.
¿Hay un baño en la casa? Is there a bathroom in the house?
La cocina está detrás del salón. The kitchen is behind the living room.

Culture

La casa hispana The Hispanic home

Asking "where do you live?" opens a window onto a whole way of life. In the Spanish-speaking world, many people live in flats, the home opens onto a courtyard, and in summer the afternoon pauses for a while. These three ideas — the flat, the courtyard and the siesta — explain what a typical home is like.

The flat: living vertically

In Spain and in many Latin American cities, the norm is to live in a "piso" or "apartamento", not a house with a garden. Buildings fill the centre, people live near the shops, and you go down to the street for everything. The flat has the advantage of community life: neighbours know each other, there is a doorkeeper, and children play in the square below. Watch the word "piso": it means both the whole dwelling and the floor of the building ("I live on the third floor").

The courtyard: the heart of the home

The traditional Hispanic house is organised around a "patio": an open space in the middle, with plants, a fountain and sometimes colourful tiles. The rooms face the patio, not the street, so the house stays cool in summer and shielded from noise. In Andalusia, the courtyards of Córdoba are so beautiful there is a festival every May. In a modern home the patio may be just a balcony with pots, but the idea is the same: a green, private corner, within four walls, to breathe.

The siesta: a pause, not laziness

The "siesta" is a rest in the early afternoon, when the heat is fierce. It is not sleeping out of laziness: it is a logical pause in the hottest hours, after lunch. In some towns, shops close from two to five and reopen in the late afternoon. It is true that in big cities, with office hours, few people take a siesta on weekdays; but at the weekend, or in summer in the village, a short nap is still a small luxury. As the saying goes: "después de comer, ni un sobre leer" — after eating, not even an envelope to read, better to rest.

In short: the Hispanic home lives inwards (the patio) and outwards (the street, the neighbours), and respects the rhythm of the day (the siesta). When someone invites you to their flat, you will see that what matters is not the square metres, but the open door.

pronunciation

Want to actually learn this — with audio, spaced repetition and progress tracking?

Study in the app →