1. Describing Time Periods
“Hacer” with expressions of time.

2. 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

3. Hace + time period + que + verb
To say that something has been going on for a while, we use the above formula:
Hace
un año
que
quiero ir
a Las Vegas
I’ve wanted to go to Las Vegas for a year.
Hace
45 minutos
que
espero
la campana.
I’ve been waiting for the bell for 45 minutes.

4. 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?

5. ¿Cuánto tiempo + hace + que + verb?
Switch time period for ¿Cuánto tiempo…?
¿Cuánto tiempo hace que
entraste
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.

6. 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.

7. Time periods Años = years Meses = months Días = days Horas = hours
Minutos = minutes
Segundos = seconds

8. Remember those 3 things you wrote down?
In Spanish, tell me how long you’ve been wanting to do those things.