Is "es gibt" in German equivalent to "hay" in Spanish?
It seems like for both of them, you always conjugate the verb in the 3rd person singular and it is followed by an indefinite article. So you could say "Hay un banco" or "Es gibt eine Bank", but you could not say "Hay el banco" or "Es gibt die Bank". Is this correct?

Question

Is "es gibt" in German equivalent to "hay" in Spanish? 
It seems like for both of them, you always conjugate the verb in the 3rd person singular and it is followed by an indefinite article. So you could say "Hay un banco" or "Es gibt eine Bank", but you could not say "Hay el banco" or "Es gibt die Bank". Is this correct?

Answer

Absolutely!

Answer

Sí, no puedes decir "Hay el banco" y, en general, no se dice "Es gibt die Bank". Sin embargo, si hablas ,por ejemplo, de un banco concreto puedes decir "Es gibt eine/die Bank in der Schillerstraße" o "Es gibt die Volksbank und die Deutsche Bank". Por desgracia, no he encontrado una regla gramatical apropiada en Internet.

Saludos desde Alemania:)