Hacer is one of the essential verbs in the Spanish language. It is one of the first verbs that you learn in Spanish. There are many different ways in which this verb is used, a lot of expressions. However, I do not want to scare you today. What I want to do is to show you the time expressions with hacer.
Straight forward to the structures
Now, lets’ take a look at how we conjugate the verb in some of the different tenses, as a short recap.
- Yo hago,
- tú haces,
- él hace,
- nosotros hacemos,
- vosotros hacéis,
- ellos hacen
Present Perfect
- Yo he hecho,
- tú has hecho,
- él ha hecho,
- nosotros hemos hecho,
- vosotros habéis hecho,
- ellos han hecho
Past simple
- Yo hice,
- tú hiciste,
- él hizo,
- nosotros hicimos,
- vosotros hicisteis,
- ellos hicieron
Future
- Yo haré,
- tú harás,
- él hará,
- nosotros haremos,
- vosotros haréis,
- ellos harán
Subjuntivo
QUE…
- yo haga,
- tú hagas,
- él haga,
- nosotros hagamos,
- vosotros hagáis,
- ellos hagan
Now that we have made a small recap of the verb hacer, lets’ take a look at those time expressions.
When we talk about a specific time when an action happened, a certain amount of time in the past, we use one of the two golden formulas, as to say so:
Formula 1
Hace+ (amount of time)+ que+ past simple
Example: Hace tres años que terminé el colegio. (=It’s been three years since I finished highschool)
Formula 2
past simple+ hace+ amount of time
Example: Fui al médico hace una semana. (=I went to the doctor a week ago)
When we want to talk about some actions that started in the past, and still continue into the future, we can use the following two formulas to express it:
Formula 1
Hace+ amount of time + que+ no +verb (present tense)
Example: Hace mucho tiempo que no nos vemos. (= It has been a long time since we have seen each other).
Formula 2
Verb in the present+ desde + hace + amount of time
Example: Trabajo en esa empresa desde hace cuatro meses. (=I have been working in this company for for months.)
There is also an option to express an action in the past that got interrupted by another action. For this, you can use the following three formulas:
Formula 1
Hacía+ amount of time+ que+no+ verb in the imperfect
Example: Hacía un mes que no hablaba con su padre, cuando lo vió por la calle. (= A month had passed since he did not speak with his father, when he saw him on the street)
Formula 2
Verb in the imperfect+ hacía+ amount of time
Example: Llovía hacia una semana, cuando de repente salió el sol. (=It had been raining for a week, when the sun rose.)
Formula 3
Verb in the imperfect+ desde+ hacía+ amount of time
Example: Salía a corer desde hacía dos semanas, cuando se cayó. (= She used to run since two weeks ago, when she fell.)
These are some formulas that will come in handy when you want to amp up your Spanish game. If you need more help from a Spanish tutor, or a Spanish content writer, do not hesitate to contact me.
