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Spanish (Spain)

### "Since" a specific point in time with desde

To say that an ongoing action has been happening "since" a specific point in time, use **desde**. You can use this with months, years, or stages of life like **la infancia** (childhood) or **la juventud** (youth).

Notice that Spanish typically uses the present tense for actions that started in the past and are still ongoing, whereas English uses the present perfect ("have been", "have known").

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### "For" a duration of time with desde hace

When you want to express "for" a certain amount of time (a duration, like "for ten months" or "for five years"), use **desde hace**. It combines **desde** (since) and **hace** (time elapsed) to indicate exactly how long an ongoing situation has lasted.

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### Discussing relationships

You can pair these time expressions with relationship vocabulary to talk about your personal timeline, using verbs like **durar** (to last), **apoyar** (to support), and the phrase **mantener el contacto** (to keep in touch).

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Since and for (desde, desde hace)

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, from	desde
Have you been friends since January?	¿Sois amigos desde enero?
ago, for (time elapsed)	hacer
We have been friends for ten months.	Somos amigos desde hace diez meses.
the childhood	la infancia
Have they known each other since childhood?	¿Se conocen desde la infancia?
I remember my childhood very well.	Recuerdo muy bien mi infancia.
the friendship	la amistad
to last	durar
Our friendship has lasted for many years!	¡Nuestra amistad dura desde hace muchos años!
A good friendship lasts a lifetime.	Una buena amistad dura toda la vida.
The problem has lasted since last summer.	El problema dura desde el verano pasado.
the relationship	la relación
They have had a relationship since two thousand and twenty.	Tienen una relación desde dos mil veinte.
They have been in a relationship for five years.	Tienen una relación desde hace cinco años.
to trust	confiar en
I have trusted him for a long time.	Confío en él desde hace mucho tiempo.
the youth	la juventud
Have you trusted her since your youth?	¿Confías en ella desde tu juventud?
We have known each other since our youth.	Nos conocemos desde nuestra juventud.
to support	apoyar
My parents have supported me for years.	Mis padres me apoyan desde hace años.
She has supported me since January.	Ella me apoya desde enero.
to maintain, to keep	mantener
the contact	el contacto
We have not kept in touch since winter.	No hemos mantenido el contacto desde el invierno.
Have they kept in touch for three weeks?	¿Mantienen el contacto desde hace tres semanas?
until, up to	hasta
I work from nine until five.	Trabajo desde las nueve hasta las cinco.
The shop is open until eight.	La tienda está abierta hasta las ocho.
We kept in touch until the summer.	Mantuvimos el contacto hasta el verano.
during, for (a period)	durante
During my childhood I lived in the countryside.	Durante mi infancia vivía en el campo.
We talked for two hours.	Hablamos durante dos horas.
They were friends for many years.	Fueron amigos durante muchos años.

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