Time Expressions with 'Hacer'

Spanish: Expresiones de tiempo con 'hacer'

Level: B2 Upper-Intermediate

Category: constructions

Explanation

The verb 'hacer' is used in impersonal constructions to talk about how much time has passed since something happened, or how long an ongoing action has been going on. In these structures, 'hacer' always stays in the third person singular (hace, hacía) and never changes to agree with the subject. It is one of the most common ways to express duration in Spanish. For actions that continue into the present we use: 'Hace + [time] + que + [present tense]'. For example: 'Hace dos años que vivo aquí' (I have been living here for two years). The action started in the past but is still happening now, which is why the second verb is in the present tense, not the past as in English. To express how long ago a completed action happened we use: 'Hace + [time] + que + [preterite]' or simply '[preterite] + hace + [time]'. For example: 'Hace tres días que llegué' / 'Llegué hace tres días' (I arrived three days ago). Here the action is already finished and 'hace' translates to 'ago'. There is also a past form with 'hacía': 'Hacía + [time] + que + [imperfect]' to describe how long something had been going on at a point in the past. For example: 'Hacía años que no la veía' (I hadn't seen her for years). To ask questions we use '¿Cuánto tiempo hace que...?' or '¿Hace cuánto que...?'.

Examples

• Hace media hora que espero mi café. - I have been waiting for my coffee for half an hour.
• Llegué al hotel hace dos horas. - I arrived at the hotel two hours ago.
• ¿Cuánto tiempo hace que vives en Madrid? - How long have you been living in Madrid?
• Hace tres días que llegué a la ciudad. - I arrived in the city three days ago.
• Compré este billete hace cinco minutos. - I bought this ticket five minutes ago.