Breakdown of Hacía un mes que él bebía agua de coco.
él
he
de
from / of
un
a, an (masculine)
beber
to drink
el agua
the water (f)
que
that / than
el mes
the month
hacer
(of time) for / ago
el coco
the coconut
Questions & Answers about Hacía un mes que él bebía agua de coco.
Why do we use hacía and bebía (both imperfect) here instead of a compound tense like había estado bebiendo?
This is the past version of the hace + [time] + que + [present tense] formula you already know. Because you are setting a scene in the past where an action started earlier and was still going on at that past moment, you backshift both verbs to the imperfect. Hacía un mes sets the timeframe, and bebía shows the action was still an ongoing habit in that past moment.
Could I say Había bebido agua de coco por un mes instead?
You could, but it changes the meaning slightly. Él había bebido (He had drunk) usually implies the action was completed or viewed as a finished experience prior to your past story. Using hacía + [time] + que + bebía specifically emphasizes the ongoing, continuous nature of the habit (He had been drinking) right up to the point in the past you are talking about.
How would this sentence look if he still drinks coconut water today?
You would shift both verbs to the present tense: Hace un mes que él bebe agua de coco (He has been drinking coconut water for a month). The structure is exactly the same, just anchored to the present instead of the past.
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