Existential tem (speech) vs há (writing)

What it is

To say that something exists ("there is", "there are"), Brazilians use tem in speech: Tem uma farmácia aqui perto? In writing and formal speech the verb is haver: Há uma farmácia perto do hotel. Both are impersonal: they have no subject, so they never change for the plural.

This use of ter is standard Brazilian Portuguese. Everyone uses it in conversation and in informal writing such as messages. Formal writing (an email to a company, a notice, an essay) prefers há.

How to form it

• Always singular: tem muitos carros, há muitas pessoas, havia dez alunos. Never têm, hão or haviam.
• Questions need only intonation: Tem wi-fi aqui? The answer repeats the verb: Tem. / Não tem.
• The article often disappears in speech: Tem farmácia aqui? Hoje não tem pão.
• existir is a formal alternative and, unlike tem and há, it agrees with the noun: Existe uma opção. Existem duas opções.
• In the past, tinha / havia describe a scene or a situation (Na festa tinha muita gente), while teve / houve report an event (Ontem teve show na praia).

When to use it

• Tem farmácia aqui perto?Is there a pharmacy nearby?speech: asking
• Hoje não tem aula.There’s no class today.speech: negative
• Não há vagas.No spaces available.writing: a sign
• Há um erro na minha fatura.There’s a mistake on my bill.writing: a formal email
• Ontem teve show e tinha muita gente.There was a show yesterday, and lots of people.past: event + scene
• Existem duas opções.There are two options.existir agrees

In a chat message to a friend, tem is perfectly normal. Switch to há when the text is formal: work emails, school notices, public signs, essays.

Contrasts and traps

• Têm muitos carros ✗ → Tem muitos carros. The noun is plural, the verb isn’t.
• Haviam muitas pessoas ✗ → Havia muitas pessoas. Even native speakers slip here, but it is a classic mistake in writing.
• Está um banco na esquina ✗ → Tem um banco na esquina. Use tem to say that something exists. To locate a place you already know, use ficar: O banco fica na esquina.
• A muitos turistas ✗ → Há muitos turistas. Há has an h and an accent; a is "the" or "to".
• tem also means "has": Ela tem um carro (she has a car) has a subject; Tem um carro na garagem (there’s a car in the garage) doesn’t.
• You will also meet há in time expressions: há dois anos = two years ago. That comes later.

If you speak Spanish

hay is tem in speech and há in writing, and, just like hay, both are invariable. The Spanish slip habían muchas personas transfers directly as haviam muitas pessoas, which is wrong in Portuguese too: havia. For "hubo", say teve in speech and houve in writing.