Two ways to describe what needs doing
Imagine relatives preparing lunch in Camagüey. “Tenemos que poner la mesa” includes the speakers among those who need to set the table. “Hay que buscar otras sillas” presents finding more chairs as a necessary task without naming the person who will do it. That difference matters when several people are organising something together.
The scenes and dialogues are original written practice using general Spanish in Cuban settings. Follow the person who needs to act, the infinitive naming the action and the reply that helps divide the tasks.
Tener que connects a person with an action
In the present, compare “Tengo que preparar el café”, “Tienes que preparar el café” and “Tenemos que preparar el café”. The changing form of tener identifies who is presented as needing to act: I, you or we. Que stays in the construction, and preparar remains an infinitive.
For more people, practise “Ellos tienen que traer los platos”. For someone you address as usted, ask “¿Tiene que salir ahora?”. Keep the person consistent when answering: “Sí, tengo que salir”. The reply moves from the listener’s point of view to the speaker’s, rather than copying tiene unchanged.
Hay que presents a need impersonally
“Hay que preparar la mesa” says that preparing the table is needed or advisable in the situation. It does not grammatically name the person responsible. The RAE–ASALE description of haber que identifies it as an impersonal construction; in the present examples here, use hay que followed by an infinitive.
A plural object does not change that form: “Hay que preparar dos mesas” and “Hay que lavar los platos”. The tables and plates are not the subject controlling haber. If you want to identify the people involved, switch to a personal sentence such as “Nosotros tenemos que lavar los platos”.
Keep que and the infinitive visible
Compare “Tengo arroz” with “Tengo que comprar arroz”. The first concerns possession; the second presents buying rice as something the speaker needs to do. Likewise, “Hay arroz” says rice is available or present, while “Hay que cocinar el arroz” presents cooking it as a task.
Correct “Tenemos que preparamos el café” to “Tenemos que preparar el café”. Tener carries the person marking; the following verb stays in the infinitive. For this practice, change only the action: poner la mesa, preparar el café, traer los platos. The food and menu vocabulary guide helps with words around the Cuban table.
A necessary task is not an agreed assignment
In our imagined meal, someone says “Hay que lavar los platos”. Another asks “¿Quién los lava?”. The first statement did not identify the person who would do the washing. A reply such as “Yo los lavo después de comer” adds a person and a time.
Compare “Hay que buscar más sillas” with “Ana tiene que buscar más sillas”. The first leaves the person unnamed; the second names Ana. To ask for help directly, try “Ana, ¿puedes buscar las sillas?”. Her answer “Sí, las busco” makes her part in the shared task clear.
Separate a statement of need from a request
“Tengo que poner la mesa” describes the speaker’s task. “¿Puedes poner la mesa?” asks the listener to act. “¿Tenemos que ponerla ahora?” asks about whether the task is needed now. The same action can appear in three different conversational jobs.
The wording, your relationship and the way you say it affect the tone of a request. In these examples, tengo and tenemos show who needs to act. For more ways to ask someone for help, continue with the guide to polite requests.
Follow a complete original planning exchange
“Vamos a preparar congrí para la comida”. — “¿Qué tenemos que hacer primero?” — “Hay que preparar la mesa y buscar más sillas”. — “Yo tengo que salir un momento. ¿Puedes buscar las sillas?” — “Sí. Yo las busco y después ponemos la mesa”.
Notice the change from the general task in hay que to the personal need in tengo que and the direct request ¿Puedes…?. The reply “Yo las busco y después ponemos la mesa” agrees to look for the chairs and proposes setting the table together afterwards. Rebuild the exchange with plates or glasses and keep the change of person clear.
Check the person before finishing the sentence
Complete these original models: 1. Yo “___ preparar café”. 2. A general task, with no named person: “___ lavar los platos”. 3. Nosotros “___ traer las sillas”. 4. A question to usted: “¿___ salir ahora?”. Then correct “Tenemos que llevamos los platos”.
Answers: 1. tengo que. 2. Hay que, even though platos is plural. 3. tenemos que. 4. Tiene que. The correction is “Tenemos que llevar los platos”. Finish by writing one necessary task without naming anyone, then another sentence identifying who needs to do it. Check that your explanation describes the two meanings without inventing an agreement.