Hacer + Time Expressions
Hace, hacía · for, ago, had been, since
The verb hacer teams up with time expressions to answer one question four different ways: how long has something been going on, how long ago it happened, how long it had been going on, and how long it had been since it happened. Same question, four formulas.
Hace + present tense
How long something has been going on and is still happening right now.
FORMULA
hace + time + que + verb (present)
¿Cuánto tiempo hace que vas al gimnasio?
How long have you been going to the gym?
Hace cinco meses que voy al gimnasio.
I have been going to the gym for five months. (and I still go)
¿Cuánto tiempo hace que estudias español?
How long have you been studying Spanish?
Hace tres años que estudio español.
I have been studying Spanish for three years.
Key signal: the action started in the past and is still happening. The verb is in the present tense.
Hace + preterite
How long ago something happened. The action is completely done.
FORMULA
hace + time + que + verb (preterite)
¿Cuánto tiempo hace que fuiste al gimnasio?
How long ago did you go to the gym?
Hace cinco meses que fui al gimnasio.
I went to the gym five months ago. (it's over)
¿Cuánto tiempo hace que Marcos y Beatriz dibujaron?
How long ago did Marcos and Beatriz draw?
Hace un año que Marcos y Beatriz dibujaron.
Marcos and Beatriz drew a year ago.
Key signal: hace stays in the present, but the action verb flips to the preterite. The action is finished and in the past.
Hacía + imperfect
How long something had been going on at a point in the past. Both the duration and the action are in the past.
FORMULA
hacía + time + que + verb (imperfect)
¿Cuánto tiempo hacía que ibas al gimnasio?
How long had you been going to the gym?
Hacía cinco meses que iba al gimnasio.
I had been going to the gym for five months. (before something changed)
Hacía un año que Marcos y Beatriz dibujaban.
Marcos and Beatriz had been drawing for a year.
Key signal: hacía signals you're in the past. The imperfect verb shows the action was ongoing at that past moment.
Hacía + no + imperfect
How long it had been since something happened. The action was NOT happening for that stretch of time.
FORMULA
hacía + time + que + no + verb (imperfect)
¿Cuánto tiempo hacía que no ibas al gimnasio?
How long had it been since you went to the gym?
Hacía cinco meses que no iba al gimnasio.
It had been five months since I went to the gym. (I had NOT been going)
Hacía dos años que yo no estaba en la secundaria.
It had been two years since I was in high school.
Key signal: the no is the giveaway. It tells you the action stopped and you're counting how long it was absent.
PRACTICE ZONE
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