Hace … que

Hace…que + presente = forUsing the verb hacer with the present tense form of a verb

indicates the length of time an action has been taking place.

Hace + time + que + present tense form of the verbHace un año que estudio español.I have been studying Spanish for one year.

Hace…que + pretérito = agoWhen the verb is in the preterit tense, a different meaning is

conveyed:Hace + time + que + preterit tense form of the verbHace un año que estudié español.I studied Spanish one year ago.

There is another way to convey the same idea:Preterit tense form of the verb + hace + timeEstudié español hace un año.I studied Spanish one year ago.

Note the differences and similarities:Hace un año que estudio español.

I have been studying Spanish for one year.Hace un año que estudié español.

I studied Spanish one year ago.Estudié español hace un año.

I studied Spanish one year ago.

Ejercicio: ¿puedes traducir estas oraciones?I ate one hour ago.They read the entire novel two years ago.My parents paid my tuition two weeks ago.I attended the lecture two weeks ago.The girl did her homework 30 minutes ago.The boy read a book six years ago.We bought the house twenty years ago.

ContinuaciónI’m sorry! How long have you been waiting?I’ve wanted to eat at this restaurant for a long time.How long ago were your born?Aura left for Buenos Aires six years ago.Celia had been studying for six hours when Sergio called

her.Matías wasn’t surprised; he had read about the problem

three years earlier.