TIME EXPRESSIONS WITH "HACER" = Use of HACE (or DESDE

TIME EXPRESSIONS WITH "HACER" = Use of HACE (or DESDE HACE) + Present Tense vs. Preterite Tense
STRUCTURE A
STRUCTURE B
1. To express HOW LONG something HAS GONE ON FOR, or HAS BEEN GOING ON.
1-A. HACE + TIEMPO + QUE + SUBJECT + VERB IN PRESENT
1-B. SUBJECT + VERB IN PRESENT + DESDE HACE + TIEMPO
The translation into English uses the PRESENT PERFECT (have/has done) OR
the PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE (have/has been doing).
Alternate answer structure for same question as 1-A
Note the absence of "que" and the addition of "desde" in front of "hace"
when the sentence order is reversed in the answer below.
¿Cuánto tiempo hace que (tú) estudias español?
(How long have you studied Spanish?)
¿Cuánto tiempo hace que (tú) estudias español?
(How long have you studied Spanish?)
Hace 3 años que (yo) estudio español. =
I have studied Spanish for 3 years.
(Yo) Estudio español desde hace 3 años. =
I have studied Spanish for 3 years.
2. To express HOW LONG AGO something happened.
2-A. HACE + TIEMPO + QUE + SUBJECT + VERB IN PRETERITE
2-B. SUBJECT + VERB IN PRETERITE + HACE + TIEMPO
When the main verb in the sentence is in the PRETERITE, the time expression
with "hace" means HOW LONG AGO something happened.
Alternate answer structure for same question as 2-A.
Note the absence of "que" when the time expression is at the end of the
answer. Note also that this alternate form in the PRETERITE does NOT use
"DESDE" (as we do with the PRESENT) because it does not link the past to the
present (i.e., the action here is completed and not ongoing in the present.)
¿Cuánto tiempo hace que (tú) estudiaste español? =
(How long ago did you study Spanish? )
¿Cuánto tiempo hace que (tú) estudiaste español? =
(How long ago did you study Spanish? )
Hace 3 años que estudié español. = I studied Spanish 3 years ago.
Estudié español hace 3 años. = I studied Spanish 3 years ago.
To determine if you should use HACE or DESDE HACE
* MAIN VERB in PRESENT, time expression at BEGINNING of sentence.
* MAIN VERB in PRESENT, time expression at END of sentence.
= Use HACE (1-A above)
= Use DESDE HACE (1-B above)
* MAIN VERB in PRETERITE, time expression at BEGINNING or END of sentence. = Use HACE in both cases (2-A & 2-B above)