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Há muito tempo que quero visitar o Porto.

Há muito tempo que quero visitar o Porto.
I have wanted to visit Porto for a long time.
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Questions & Answers about Há muito tempo que quero visitar o Porto.

What does há mean here, and why does it have an accent (vs. plain a)?
  • Há is the impersonal present of haver used to talk about time. With a present tense, it means “for” (a duration up to now); without a following que, it can mean “ago.”
  • The accent distinguishes há from the preposition a (“to/at/in,” or “in + time” as in daqui a dois anos).
  • Patterns:
    • Há dois anos que… = for two years (up to now)
    • Há dois anos, …
      • past verb = two years ago, …
    • Daqui a dois anos… = in two years (from now)
Why is que there after há muito tempo? Can I drop it?
  • Há [duration] que + present is a set structure meaning a state/action has lasted up to now.
  • If you drop que, the meaning tends to shift. For example, Há muito tempo visitei o Porto means “a long time ago I visited Porto” (past, not ongoing).
  • To keep the “for a long time (up to now)” meaning, keep either the full structure (Há muito tempo que…) or place the duration at the end with the present (see next question).
Can I put the time phrase at the end, like Quero visitar o Porto há muito tempo?

Yes. In European Portuguese you can say either:

  • Há muito tempo que quero visitar o Porto.
  • Quero visitar o Porto há muito tempo. Both are natural and mean the same here. The “há… que” version is especially common.
Why not use the Portuguese present perfect, like tenho querido?
In Portuguese, the present perfect (tenho + particípio) usually means repeated or habitual occurrences up to now, not a single continuous state. Tenho querido visitar o Porto suggests you’ve wanted it on and off recently. To express a continuous desire that started in the past and still holds, use the simple present with há… que (or the duration at the end): Há muito tempo que quero… / Quero… há muito tempo.
Can I use desde instead of há?
  • Use desde with a starting point: Desde 2015 (que) quero visitar o Porto.
  • Use há with a duration: Há dez anos que quero visitar o Porto.
  • The form Desde há… is common in European Portuguese (“since [a duration] ago”), but many style guides prefer the cleaner options above.
Why is it o Porto? Do city names take articles in Portuguese?
In European Portuguese, many place names take a definite article. Porto takes the masculine article: o Porto. Others don’t (e.g., Lisboa). It’s largely lexical and must be learned case by case. Note: English “Oporto” arose from people treating the article o as part of the name.
Why is there no preposition before Porto after visitar?

Visitar is a transitive verb and takes a direct object: visitar o Porto (not “visitar ao/para o Porto”). Compare:

  • ir ao Porto (go to Porto)
  • estar no Porto / viver no Porto (be/live in Porto)
How should I pronounce this sentence in European Portuguese?
  • Há: h is silent; open “á.”
  • muito: nasal “mui-” → roughly “MOOY-too” ([ˈmũjtu]).
  • tempo: nasal “tem-” ([ˈtẽpu]).
  • que: reduced vowel, like “kɨ.”
  • quero: open “e” ([ˈkɛɾu]); the single r between vowels is a tap [ɾ].
  • visitar: final -r is pronounced in EP (a light [ɾ]).
  • o Porto: article o sounds like “u”; single r in Porto is a tap: [u ˈpoɾtu].
Why muito tempo and not muitos tempos?
Because tempo here is an uncountable concept (“time” as duration). Use muito tempo for “a long time.” The plural tempos refers to “times/eras/moods” and is used in other contexts (e.g., noutros tempos = “in other times”).
Does há muito tempo ever mean “a long time ago”?
Yes—without que and followed by a past event: Há muito tempo visitei o Porto = long ago, I visited. With há… que + present, it means “for [a long time] (up to now).”
How would Brazilians typically say this?

In Brazilian Portuguese, you’ll often hear:

  • Faz muito tempo que quero visitar (o) Porto.
  • Tem muito tempo que quero visitar (o) Porto.
    They frequently use faz/tem for duration, and they more often omit the article with city names, though usage varies.
Is quero too direct? How can I sound softer or more polite in Portugal?

Yes, quero can sound blunt. Politer or softer options:

  • Gostava de visitar o Porto.
  • Queria visitar o Porto.
  • Tenho muita vontade de visitar o Porto.
    You can keep the duration structure: Há muito tempo que gostava/queria de visitar o Porto (better: Há muito tempo que gostava de visitar o Porto / …que queria visitar o Porto).