Impersonal verbs

Unit 15 (Unidad 15)
Impersonal verbs (Los verbos
impersonales)
Level 1
1.1 Impersonal verbs (Verbos impersonales)
1.2 Uses of haber (Usos de haber)
1.3 Impersonal use of hacer meaning ago and since (Uso impersonal de hacer con
el sentido de desde)
1.1 Impersonal verbs
Impersonal verbs have neither subject nor object. Whatever they represent as being or as
going on, nothing is suggested as taking any active part in it. There is no perfect example
of such a verb in English but Spanish, like Italian, has many that are either always or
occasionally used. The English pronoun it is a mere form of expression due to the habit
of our language, but it does not represent the actor. Interestingly enough, the English it
corresponds to the French il. Theverbs in question here are frequently associated with
weather or natural phenomena:
i llover (to rain), nevar (to snow), tronar (to thunder), lloviznar (to drizzle), granizar (to
hail), relampaguear (to be lightning – very difficult to translate! [any suggestions?]
and an excellent example of why literal translations are not to be recommended),
hacer (to be) (especially this last one):
Llueve mucho It rains a lot Relampaguea There’s lightning
Est´anevando It’s snowing Hace buen tiempo It’s nice weather
Est´atronando It’s thundering ¿Qu´e tiempo hace? What’s the weather
like?
Llovizna It drizzles Hace (mucho) viento It’s (very) windy
ii With respect to weather, we should point out here the differences between hacer
and tener. Whereas hacer is used to refer to the condition of the weather, tener is
used for a person’s reaction to it. Compare the following examples:
Hace calor It is hot Hace fr´ıo It is cold
Tengo calor Iamhot Tengo fr´ıo Iamcold
Estar caliente does not mean to be hot, unless used figuratively about the opposite sex!

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ASTUDENT GRAMMAR OF SPANISH
iii Furthermore, estar is used in this context, but for things:
Esta cama est´afr´ıa This bed is cold
La sopa est´a muy caliente The soup is very hot
1.2 Uses of haber
i (There is a more limited treatment of haber in unit 13, 1.4.v on ser and estar. See also
level 2 in this unit.)
The verb haber has practically lost its original meaning of possession, connected as it is
to the French verb avoir and the Italian avere which both retain the notion of possession.
Its principal value is that of an auxiliary verb (he hablado = I spoke / have spoken) in
forming compound tenses (see unit 5). It has one other wide acceptation, namely when it
is used impersonally. Only the third person singular (hay), the infinitive (haber), the past
participle (habido) and the gerund (habiendo)are used impersonally. One irregularity
is that the present indicative is not ha but hay.This peculiar form is a combination of
ha and the now obsolete y (there) which crops up in the French ilya(there is/are). Hay
is used in the following way.
ii
Hay un coche / diez coches There is one/a car / are ten cars
Hay un muchacho / varios muchachos There is/are one/a/several boy(s)
It is clear from these examples that, while in English the verb agrees in number with the
following noun or nouns, in Spanish it is singular throughout, like the French il y a. (See
level 2.6.for similar use in other tenses.)
iii Hay followed by que = hay que, and then followed by an infinitive, denotes
necessity or obligation, witness these examples:
Hay que ser prudente en carretera I/You/We, etc., have to be careful on the
road
Hay que ir ma˜nana I/You/We, etc., have to go tomorrow
(See level 2 for similar use in other tenses and covering personal pronouns.)
iv When a noun or equivalent word intervenes between haber and que, the idea of

obligation is modified:
Hay muchos monumentos que visitar There are lots of monuments to visit
Hay m´as de una dificultad que vencer There is more than one difficulty to get over
1.3 Impersonal use of hacer meaning ago and since
Apart from its use with weather (see above), this verb may be followed by a measure of
time, and has the value of ago or since:
Hace tres a˜nos que estoy en M´exico I’ve been in Mexico for three years
Hace m´as de un a˜no que no oigo hablar de ella Ihaven’t heard of her for more than a year
Llegu´e hace cinco a˜nos Iarrived five years ago
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15 Impersonal verbs
Exercises
Level 1
i Answer the following questions:
Example
¿Qu´e tiempo hace ma ˜nana? > Hace buen tiempo ma ˜nana
a ¿Qu´e tiempo hace hoy?
b ¿Qu´e tiempo hace en verano?
c ¿Qu´e tiempo hace en invierno?
d ¿Qu´e tiempo hace en primavera?
e ¿Qu´e tiempo hace en oto ˜no?
f ¿Qu´e tiempo hace en marzo?
g ¿Qu´e tiempo hace en el sur de M´exico?
h ¿Qu´e tiempo hace en el centro de Espa˜na en julio?
i ¿Qu´e tiempo hace en Nueva York en febrero?
j ¿Qu´e tiempo hace en Arizona en agosto?
ii Complete the following sentences with expressions related to the weather:
Example
Juego con mis amigos en el parque cuando (
) > ...cuando hace buen tiempo

a No salgo en el carro (M)/coche cuando (
)
b Mis padres y yo vamos al campo cuando (
)
c No visitamos la costa cuando (
)
d No saco buenas fotos cuando (
)
e En Londres en noviembre (
)
f En Acapulco en verano (
)
g Pasan todo el d´ıa en casa cuando (
)
h ¿Vas al colegio en cami´on (M)/autob´us cuando (
)?
i No me gustan las vacaciones cuando (
)
j Disfruto mucho cuando (
)
k Me siento muy rom´antico cuando (
)
l Es peligroso el mar cuando (
)
iii Make questions from the following statements, as in the example:
Hay una regadera (M)/una ducha en el ba ˜no > ¿Qu´ehayenel ba˜no?
a Hay una televisi´on en el estudio
b Hay tres sillas en la rec´amara (M)/eldormitorio
c Hay un microondas en la cocina
d Hay unos peri´odicos en la mesa

e Hay una computadora (M)/unordenador en el sal´on
f Hay varios timbres (M)/sellos en el paquete
g Hay un foco (M)/una bombilla en el techo
h Hay cuatro mesas en el comedor
i Hay un carro (M)/coche en el garage (M)/garaje
j Hay dos espejos en el ba˜no
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ASTUDENT GRAMMAR OF SPANISH
iv Class activity
Objective – Practice the use of impersonal verbs with reference to the weather
Method – One member of the class draws weather phenomena on the board. The class
guesses what kind of weather it is.
Example
The member draws drops of water coming down
The class responds with: Llueve / Est´a lloviendo (same meaning)
1.1 above will give you plenty of help. Feel free to use your imagination to indicate heat,
cold, etc. It would be easy to find ten illustrations.
Level 2
2.1 More on impersonal verbs (M
´
as detalles sobre verbos impersonales)
2.2 Ser and estar used impersonally when followed by nouns and adjectives (Uso
impersonal de ser y estar seguidos de nombres y adjetivos)
2.3 Modal auxiliary verbs (Verbos auxiliares de tipo modal)
2.4 Uses of caber and soler (Usos de caber y soler)
2.5 Uses of bastar, faltar, quedar, sobrar (Usos de bastar,...)
2.6 More on haber and hacer (M
´
as detalles sobre haber y hacer)
2.7 Use of haber + debido = Ought and ought to have (Uso de...)

2.8 Verbs in past tenses with hacer = ago (Verbos en pasado con hacer = ago)
2.9 Desde = since
2.1 More on impersonal verbs
i In addition to the weather verbs above, there is a further cluster of verbs that stand
freely, and often do not have a true equivalent in English. Among the most common
are:
amanecer to dawn, to get light encantar to please, to delight
anochecer to begin to get dark gustar to please
apetecer to attract, to appeal (to) importar to be important
constar to be evident parecer to seem, to appear
convenir to suit ventiscar to be snowing (and blowing)
diluviar to pour down
Of course, encantar and gustar may be used in other ways:
Les encanto a mis estudiantes My students adore me
Le gusto a mi novia My girlfriend likes me
Ejemplos
En invierno amanece tarde It gets light later in winter
Me gusta el verano mediterr´aneo porque anochece
tarde
I like the Mediterranean summer because it
gets dark later
¿Te apetece un helado? Do you feel like an ice cream?
Me consta que tiene dinero It is clear to me that he has money
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15 Impersonal verbs
Conviene firmar el contrato It is sensible to sign the contract
Le encanta la ´opera / ir a la ´opera She loves the opera / going to the opera
¿Os / les (M) gusta ir al cine? Do you like going to the movies?
Importa mucho It is very important
¿Les importa que fumemos? Do you mind if we smoke?

Siempre me molesta no ayudarte It always troubles me not to help you
Me parece que es china It seems to me that she’s Chinese
Ayer estuvo ventiscando todo el d´ıa It was snowing hard all day yesterday
ii There are many cases where in English a verb would be used impersonally, governing
an infinitive, while in Spanish the infinitive is the subject of the verb:
Me cost´ounojo de la cara aprobar el examen It cost me an arm and a leg to get through
the exam
Nos toc´o jugar a nosotros It was our turn to play
A ella le correspond´ıa ir de vacaciones en oto˜no It was her turn to go on vacation in the
fall/autumn
Compete a la compa˜n´ıa responder por el error It is incumbent upon the company to be
responsible for the error = The
company takes responsibility for . . .
2.2 Ser and estar used impersonally when followed by
nouns and adjectives
i The verbs ser and estar are used impersonally with special frequency when followed
by nouns and adjectives:
Es una pena ver a estos ni˜nos tan enfermos It is sad to see these children so sick
Es l´astima que os teng´ais que marchar It’s a pity you have to go
Es importante estudiar It’s important to study
Es esencial trabajar It’s essential to work
Es l´ogico terminarlo hoy It’s logical to finish it today
Es natural cuidar a tus ni˜nos It’s natural to look after your children
Estaba oscuro cuando me levant´e It was dark when I got up
Est´a muy nublado It’s very cloudy
Era muy tarde para ir al campo It was very late to go into the country
ii There is an impersonal expression, of active form, but of passive value, formed by the
verb ser, followed by de and the infinitive:
Es de esperar que regresen It is to be hoped they will come back
Es de lamentar que no haya aprobado It is to be regretted he did not pass

2.3 Modal auxiliary verbs
i English has a relatively large number of auxiliary verbs (e.g. will, would, may, might,
shall, should, must, ought) and verbal expressions (to be to, to have to, e.g. we were
to arrive at nine, we have to go now). Their main function is to express intentions or
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