Describing Time Periods

“Hacer” with expressions of time.

Quick!

(or should I say: ¡Rápidamente!

Write 3 things that you want to do

Now tell me how long you have wanted to do these things

Hace + time period + que + verb

To say that something has been going on for a while, we use the above formula:

HaceI’ve wanted to go to Las Vegas for a year.

un año que quiero ir a Las Vegas

HaceI’ve been waiting for the bell for 45 minutes.

45 minutos que espero la campana.

Hace + time period + que + verb

This also works with the past tense:

Hace dos años que entré a CHS

It’s been two years since I started at CHS.

Hace 9 años que estudié en España.

It’s been 9 years since I studied in Spain.

What if we want to ask a question?

¿Cuánto tiempo + hace + que + verb?

Switch time period for ¿Cuánto tiempo…?

¿Cuánto tiempo hace queentraste a CHS?

How long has it been since you started CHS?

¿Cuánto tiempo hace que estudias español?

How long have you been studying Spanish?

There’s a catch.

Preterite + hace + time period

When you want to say ago, we use a different formula (we switch the verb and drop que)

Estudié en España hace 8 años.

I studied in Spain 8 years ago.

Terminaron la secundaria hace 3 años.

You finished middle school 3 years ago.

Time periods

Años = years

Meses = months

Días = days

Horas = hours

Minutos = minutes

Segundos = seconds

Remember those 3 things you wrote down?

In Spanish, tell me how long you’ve been wanting to do those things.