Aprendo español desde hace dos años: desde, desde hace y hace… que plus present indicative
n this article we will look at three very frequently used constructions in the language that serve to introduce actions that began in the past and continue in the present, which are desde, desde hace and hace… que. We will see how they are constructed, the temporal markers that accompany them and usage examples. Let's go!
Desde.
We use desde plus a moment in the past to indicate the starting point of an action or state that continues in the present, that is, its beginning. It is used together with different temporal markers such as dates, months, years, times of the day, relative temporal markers and even specific events. Its grammatical structure is Action or state + desde + temporal marker. Let’s look at examples.
Vivo en Madrid desde 1990. (I have lived in Madrid since 1990).
Trabajamos juntos desde enero. (We have worked together since January).
Llueve desde la mañana. (It has been raining since the morning).
Esperamos el autobús desde las tres. (We have been waiting for the bus since three o’clock).
Te espero desde ayer. (I have been waiting for you since yesterday).
No voy a mi casa desde el lunes. (I haven’t gone to my house since Monday).
Soy vegetariano desde mi viaje a la India. (I have been vegetarian since my trip to India).
Practica yoga desde su lesión. (She has practiced yoga since her injury).
To give greater emphasis to the moment when the action begins desde can be placed at the beginning of the sentence.
Desde diciembre trabajo aquí. (Since December I have worked here).
Desde la semana pasada ellos no vienen. (Since last week they haven’t come).
Desde hace.
We use desde hace to indicate the duration of an action or state that began in the past and continues in the present. In this case, then, we accompany desde hace with time periods that can be specific, such as three days, two months, five years or one hour, or non-specific, such as a long time, a while, an eternity. The grammatical structure is Action or state + desde hace + time period. Let’s look at examples.
Vivo en Barcelona desde hace cinco años. (I have lived in Barcelona for five years).
Mi hermana estudia francés desde hace dos años. (My sister has studied French for two years).
Trabajo en este proyecto desde hace tres meses. (I have worked on this project for three months).
No veo a mis abuelos desde hace varios meses. (I haven’t seen my grandparents for several months).
Llueve desde hace una semana. (It has been raining for a week).
No salgo de casa desde hace dos días. (I haven’t left home for two days).
Viven aquí desde hace mucho tiempo. (They have lived here for a long time).
No nos vemos desde hace una eternidad. (We haven’t seen each other for an eternity).
Just as in the case of desde the time period can be emphasized by varying the order of the sentence.
Desde hace una hora está nublado. (For an hour it has been cloudy).
Desde hace tres días estoy con fiebre. (For three days I have had a fever).
In some varieties of the Spanish language in this construction the word desde is omitted.
Vivo en Barcelona hace cinco años. (I have lived in Barcelona for five years).
Mi hermana estudia francés hace dos años. (My sister has studied French for two years).
Hace... que.
This structure is very similar to the previous one in the sense that it is also accompanied by time periods, but in this case the order of the sentence is different: its structure is Hace + time period + que + action or state. Let’s look at examples.
¡Hace tres horas que te espero! (I have been waiting for you for three hours!).
Hace veinte años que no la veo. (I haven’t seen her for twenty years).
Hace mucho tiempo que no llueve así. (It hasn’t rained like this for a long time).
Let’s look at comparisons with desde hace.
Estudio español desde hace dos años = Hace dos años que estudio español. (I have studied Spanish for two years).
Vive en París desde hace un mes = Hace un mes que vive en París. (She has lived in Paris for a month).
Trabajamos juntos desde hace cinco años = Hace cinco años que trabajamos juntos. (We have worked together for five years).
We have reached the end. This topic is quite simple, but very important since it deals with expressions of very frequent use in the language and which, furthermore, depending on the language or languages you speak, can be quite different when comparing grammars. Here I leave you exercises to practice this topic and, if you have doubts, you can write to me. Thanks for reading!
Leave a Reply