Do you find yourself scratching your head whenever someone uses ‘has’ or ‘haz’ in Spanish?
Yeah, I know, they look and sound very similar … but don’t get your knickers in a twist just yet because these two words are actually really easy to understand.
Quick answer – ‘has’ is the second person singular conjugation of the auxiliary verb ‘haber’ in the present tense, while ‘haz’ is the second person singular conjugation of ‘hacer’ in the imperative mood.
Want to know more?
Let’s get into the nitty-gritty!
When to use ‘has’
As I’ve already mentioned, ‘has’ is the ‘tú’ form of the auxiliary verb ‘haber’ in the present tense.
And what’s an auxiliary verb?
Well, it’s a verb that ‘helps’ other verbs when forming certain tenses.
‘Haber’ itself is used when forming the perfect tenses (‘I have been’, ‘I had eaten’, etc.) AND when translating ‘there is’ and ‘there are’ (‘hay’).
Being a present tense conjugation, ‘has’ is therefore only used when forming the present perfect / present perfect continuous and is ALWAYS followed by a past participle.
Let’s look at a few examples –
Tú has estado trabajando mucho. ¿Cuándo son tus vacaciones?
You’ve been working a lot. When’s your vacation?
Has bailado toda la noche con ella. ¿Te estás enamorando?
You’ve been dancing with her the whole night. Is she rocking your world?
¿Has dicho que vamos a visitar Chichen Itza? Es un lugar fantástico.
Did you say that we’ll visit Chichen Itza? It’s a fantastic place.
¿Qué onda*, has visto a Juan? Se supone que vamos a jugar tenis.
What’s up, have you seen John? We’re meant to be playing tennis.
*Erika’s note – ‘qué onda’ is a super common Mexican greeting, kinda like the English ‘what’s up’.
When to use ‘haz’
We use ‘haz’ when we have to tell someone what to do!
It’s the ‘tú’ form of the verb ‘hacer’ (‘to do’) in the imperative mood (the form of the verb used when giving commands / orders!).
Let’s look at some more examples –
Haz tu trabajo o te van a correr.
Do your job or they’ll fire you.
Haz tu tarea y deja de ver la tele.
Do your homework and stop watching TV.
¡Haz que me enamore de ti!
Make me fall in love with you!
‘Haz’ can also be used as a noun with the following meanings –
1 beam (of light)
El haz de luz entró por el tragaluz = The beam of light entered through the skylight.
2 bundle of herbs or flowers.
Traje un haz de leña para la fogata = I bought a bundle of wood for the campfire.
3 face or upper surface.
Se desapareció del haz de la tierra = He disappeared from the face of the earth.
‘Has’ vs ‘haz’ pronunciation
The ‘h’ in both ‘has’ and ‘haz’ is silent –
(H)as hecho muchas cosas el día de hoy.
You’ve done a lot of things today.
(H)az la tarea ya.
Do your homework right now.
Both the ‘s’ and ‘z’ sounds should be clearly enunciated, which obviously helps distinguish one from the other!
Generally, the ‘z’ sound is stronger in Spain, and it sounds more like an ´s´ in Latin America.
Final thoughts
That’s all for today, folks!
Hopefully you now understand the difference between ‘has’ and ‘haz’ and are able to use the two when practicing your Spanish!
I’ve put together a quick test so you can iron out those creases …
Oh, and if you wanna learn more Spanish grammar, make sure to check out our article on ‘cualquier‘ and ‘cualquiera‘.
‘Has’ vs ‘Haz’ quiz
Fill in the gaps with either ‘has’ or ‘haz’ –
1. ___________ tenido un día muy largo.
2. El ___________ de luz genera una sombra sobre la pirámide de Chichen Itza.
3. ¿___________ viajado a esa hermosa ciudad?
4. ¿Tú ___________ tenido COVID este año? Mis padres ya se vacunaron.
5. El ___________ de flores de colores es perfecto para esta decoración.
6. ___________ dicho que Maná es la mejor banda de rock en español.
7. ¡Se desapareció del ___________ de la tierra!
8. ¡___________ lo que te dice la receta!
9. La Virgen de Guadalupe es milagrosa. ¿___________ orado a ella para que te haga el milagrito?
10. Yo quiero escribir la novela, tú ___________ la película.
Answers –
1. Has
2. haz
3. Has
4. has
5. haz
6. Has
7. haz
8. Haz
9. Has
10.haz
