How Do You Use Hacer Time Expressions in Spanish?
Note: The verb “hacer” can be used in a number of ways to indicate the length of time an action has been taking place. The first way uses the formula:
Hace + time + que + Present tense form of the verb
e.g.
Hace tiempo que no te veo – Long time no see you
Hace cuatro años que visitamos a Marta – Four years ago we visited Marta
Note: To make this type of expression negative, just add the word “no” before the verb, as in the following formula:
Hace + time + que + no +
Present tense form of the verb
e.g.
Hace cuatro años que no visitamos a Marta – Four years ago we did not visit Marta
– Another way to use the verb “hacer” to express how long something has been taking place is to use the following formula:
Present tense form of the verb + desde hace + time.
e.g.
Te veo desde hace un tiempo. – I have seen you for a while now
Visitamos a Marta desde hace cuatro años. – We visited Marta four years ago
Note: To make this type of expression negative, again simply add the word “no” before the verb, as in the following formula:
No + Present tense form of the verb + desde hace + time
e.g.
No te veo desde hace un tiempo. – I have not seen you for a while
No visitamos a Marta desde hace cuatro años. – We have not visited Marta for four years
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