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Hace un mes que no visito la farmacia, así que voy hoy después de clase.

Hace un mes que no visito la farmacia, así que voy hoy después de clase.
I haven’t visited the pharmacy for a month, so I’m going today after class.
FromLesson 19inHardcore Spanish (Latin America)
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Questions & Answers about Hace un mes que no visito la farmacia, así que voy hoy después de clase.

Why does Spanish use Hace un mes que no visito la farmacia with the present tense instead of a past tense like no visité?

In Spanish, to express how long it’s been since you last did something, you use:

  • Hace + [period of time] + que + [present tense negative]
    So Hace un mes que no visito… literally “it makes one month that I don’t visit,” but functionally means “I haven’t visited… for a month.” You don’t switch to the simple past because the structure itself conveys the idea of “since one month ago up to now.”
Could I also say Hace un mes que no he visitado la farmacia or No he visitado la farmacia en un mes?

Yes, both are perfectly correct and common:

  • Hace un mes que no he visitado la farmacia. (Combines the “hace … que” frame with present perfect.)
  • No he visitado la farmacia en un mes. (Uses present perfect and en to say “in a month.”)
    Differences in nuance:
    • The first keeps the classic “hace … que” construction, emphasizing elapsed time.
    • The second is a straightforward present perfect statement.
    All three mean essentially the same thing.
What role does que play in Hace un mes que no visito…?
Here que is a conjunction linking the time expression to the verb phrase. It doesn’t have a literal translation—think of it as “that” or simply the glue in “It’s been a month that I haven’t visited…” Without it, the sentence would be ungrammatical.
How is Hace un mes que no visito… different from Llevo un mes sin visitar la farmacia?

Both express “I haven’t been there for a month,” but:
• Hace un mes que no visito… (lit. “It makes one month that I don’t visit…”)
• Llevo un mes sin visitar… (lit. “I carry one month without visiting…”)
Llevo … sin + infinitive focuses on your ongoing state (you “carry” the month of non-visits), while Hace … que no + present frames it as an external time maker. They’re interchangeable in most contexts.

What does así que mean in this sentence, and can I use other connectors?

Así que means “so” or “therefore.” It indicates a logical consequence. You could also say:
• Por eso voy hoy después de clase.
• Así voy hoy después de clase. (less common)
• Entonces voy hoy después de clase. (more neutral “then”)

Why is voy in the present tense if it refers to a future action (“I’m going today after class”)?
Spanish often uses the simple present to talk about definite future plans, especially in spoken language. Much like English: “I leave tomorrow.” So voy hoy después de clase is a natural way to schedule something.
Can I change the word order of hoy and después de clase? For example, Hoy voy después de clase or Voy después de clase hoy?

Yes. All of these are grammatically correct:
• Hoy voy después de clase. (emphasizes today)
• Voy después de clase hoy. (a bit redundant, but stresses after class then clarifies today)
• Voy hoy después de clase. (neutral)
Shifting the adverbs changes slight emphasis but not the overall meaning.

Why doesn’t farmacia or visito carry an accent mark?

Spanish accent rules say:
• Words ending in a vowel, n, or s are stressed on the next-to-last syllable by default.
• farmacia (far-ma-CIA) and visito (vi-SI-to) naturally stress the penultimate syllable, so no written accent is needed.
If you tried farmácia, you’d break the rule and change the pronunciation away from standard Spanish.

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