Breakdown of Hace tres semanas que la lluvia no para y la calle parece peligrosa.
Questions & Answers about Hace tres semanas que la lluvia no para y la calle parece peligrosa.
The formula Hace + [time period] + que + [present-tense verb] indicates how long an action has been happening up to now. In this example, Hace tres semanas que la lluvia no para literally conveys “It’s been three weeks that the rain doesn’t stop,” which we translate naturally as “It hasn’t stopped raining for three weeks.”
Spanish often uses the simple present to stress an action or state that began in the past and continues now. Here, no para (“doesn’t stop”) highlights that the rain is still ongoing. The present perfect (no ha parado) would shift focus and sound less idiomatic when you want to emphasize continuous duration.
In this construction, que is a conjunction linking the time expression (Hace tres semanas) to the verb clause (la lluvia no para). Think of it like the English “that” in “It’s been three weeks that it hasn’t stopped.”
Absolutely. Hace tres semanas que no para de llover uses the more common impersonal form no para de + infinitive, meaning “it hasn’t stopped raining for three weeks.” Both versions are correct; one treats la lluvia as subject, the other is an impersonal “…de llover.”
- La lluvia no para (“the rain doesn’t stop”) is a direct, simple-present way to say it.
- No ha dejado de llover (“it hasn’t stopped raining”) uses present perfect plus dejar de + infinitive, equally correct but slightly more formal.
- La lluvia no para de llover mixes a concrete subject with no para de + infinitive, less common but understood.
They all convey continuous rain; your choice depends on style and emphasis.
In Spanish, adjectives agree with the noun’s gender and number. Calle is feminine singular, so you use peligrosa (ending in -a). If it were el camino (masculine), you’d say parece peligroso.
- Parece expresses an impression or appearance: the street seems dangerous right now.
- Es peligrosa would state an inherent or permanent trait (“the street is dangerous by nature”).
- Está peligrosa is grammatically possible but less idiomatic here; it would stress a temporary state without implying “seems.”
Yes. Two common alternatives:
• Lleva tres semanas sin parar de llover y la calle parece peligrosa.
• La lluvia no para desde hace tres semanas y la calle parece peligrosa.
Both keep the meaning but change the time-expression structure.
Yes.
• Preterite for a completed action some time ago: Hace dos años que visité Madrid (“I visited Madrid two years ago”).
• Present perfect to emphasize that the action has occurred at least once during that period: Hace un mes que he llamado varias veces (“I have called several times over the past month”).
But for ongoing situations, the simple present (as in our example) is most natural.