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Spanish (Spain)

### **Hace … que** + present

You can already say how long something has been going on with **llevar** and with **desde hace**. A third way puts the time first: **hace** + time + **que** + present. All three mean *I have been living here for two years*:

| sentence | pattern |
|---|---|
| **Hace** dos años **que** vivo aquí. | time first |
| **Llevo** dos años viviendo aquí. | llevar + gerund |
| Vivo aquí **desde hace** dos años. | time last |

Spanish uses the present because it is still true now.

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### Asking how long

**¿Cuánto tiempo hace que…?** asks for the length of time. **¿Desde cuándo…?** asks for the starting point, and is answered with **desde**: *desde ayer*, *desde enero*.

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### In the past: **hacía … que**

Looking back from a moment in the past, both verbs usually go into the imperfect.

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### The tense decides

With the preterite, **hace … que** means *ago*, like **hace** at the end of a sentence.

| sentence | meaning |
|---|---|
| Hace un mes que vivo aquí. | for a month, and still here |
| Hace un mes que llegué. | a month ago |

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### Common mistakes

- For *I have been living here for two years*, don't use **por**: **Vivo aquí desde hace dos años**.

How long? (hace … que, ¿desde cuándo?)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular subjects and 'ser' (yo soy, esto es)

Plural nouns and definite articles (los, las)

Plural pronouns and 'ser' (somos, sois, son)

Adjective agreement (-o, -a, -os, -as)

Indefinite articles (un, una, unos, unas)

Simple negation (no)

Yes/no questions

Regular '-ar' verbs (-o, -as, -a...)

Regular '-er' verbs (-o, -es, -e...)

Regular '-ir' verbs (-o, -es, -e...)

Locative adverbs (aquí, allí)

Question words (quién, cómo)

The verb estar (estoy, estás)

The preposition en (en)

Ser vs. estar

The verb tener (tengo, tienes)

Possessive determiners (mi, tu, su)

Origin and possession (de, del)

The verb ir (voy, vas)

Destination (a, al)

The personal 'a' (a)

Stem-changing verbs: e to ie

Stem-changing verbs: o to ue

Irregular first-person verbs

Reflexive verbs (me, te, se)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, dos, tres)

Numbers 11 to 20 (once, doce, trece)

Counting by tens to 100 (treinta, cuarenta, cien)

Compound numbers up to 99 (veintiuno, treinta y uno)

Days of the week (el lunes, el martes)

The family and the personal 'a' (a mi tío, a mi prima)

Months of the year

Telling time (es la, son las)

Verbs of liking (me gusta)

Plural agreement with verbs of liking (gustan)

Degree modifiers (muy, mucho)

Formal address (usted, ustedes)

Direct object pronouns (lo, la, los, las)

The near future (ir a)

Obligation (tener que)

Present continuous (-ando, -iendo)

Affirmative commands (tú, vosotros)

Basic Food and Drink

The Human Body: Head and Arms

The Human Body: Legs and Health

Wardrobe Essentials

Fresh Produce

Meals and Proteins

Public Transport

Hello and goodbye (hola, ¿qué tal?)

Thank you, sorry, OK (gracias, vale)

There is, there are (hay)

My building (la escalera, el ascensor)

Describing people (moreno, rubio, tímido)

Land and sea (el mar, el río, el norte)

Sightseeing (la plaza, la catedral)

Asking the way (cerca, a la derecha, todo recto)

In class (¿puedes repetir?)

Verb + infinitive (quiero comer, sé leer)

What's your name? (me llamo, encantado)

Phone, computer and email

Hundreds and thousands (doscientos, mil)

What do you do? (¿a qué te dedicas?)

Personal details (la edad, la fecha de nacimiento)

Me neither (también, tampoco, ni)

How much is it? (el precio, la vuelta)

What's the weather like? (hace sol, nieva)

Free time (el concierto, el tenis)

At the bar (¿qué vas a tomar?)

The Natural World

Demonstratives (este, ese, aquel)

Prepositions of place (encima de, debajo de)

Prepositional pronouns (para mí, contigo)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primero to décimo)

Adverbs of frequency (a veces, nunca)

Exclamations (¡qué...!)

Indefinite pronouns (algo, alguien)

Indefinite determiners (algún, ningún)

Indirect object pronouns (le, les)

Double object pronouns (me lo, te la)

Double object pronouns (se lo, se la)

Verbs of preference (encantar, interesar)

Impersonal obligation (hay que)

Starting and finishing actions (empezar a, terminar de)

Adjective comparatives (más que, menos que)

Comparatives of equality (tan como)

Noun comparatives (tanto como)

Question	Answer
since when? how long (has it been)?	¿desde cuándo?
I have been living in Madrid for two years.	Hace dos años que vivo en Madrid.
I have been studying German for three months.	Hace tres meses que estudio alemán.
I haven't seen you in a long time.	Hace mucho tiempo que no te veo.
It has been raining for a week.	Hace una semana que llueve.
How long have you been studying Spanish?	¿Cuánto tiempo hace que estudias español?
How long have you guys known each other?	¿Cuánto tiempo hace que os conocéis?
How long have you been working here?	¿Cuánto tiempo hace que trabajas aquí?
How long has it been since you went to the cinema?	¿Cuánto tiempo hace que no vas al cine?
Since when have you lived here?	¿Desde cuándo vives aquí?
Since when have you had a fever? Since yesterday.	¿Desde cuándo tienes fiebre? Desde ayer.
Since when have you guys been friends?	¿Desde cuándo sois amigos?
Since when have you worked at this company? (formal)	¿Desde cuándo trabaja usted en esta empresa?
I hadn't seen her in years.	Hacía años que no la veía.
We had been waiting for the bus for two hours.	Hacía dos horas que esperábamos el autobús.
I hadn't eaten paella in a long time.	Hacía mucho tiempo que no comía paella.
When we met, I had been living in Spain for a year.	Cuando nos conocimos, hacía un año que vivía en España.
My brother arrived a month ago.	Hace un mes que llegó mi hermano.
They got married ten years ago.	Hace diez años que se casaron.
He left home an hour ago.	Hace una hora que salió de casa.
I wrote to you two days ago.	Hace dos días que te escribí.

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