Verb of the week: hacer

Verb of the week: hacer

Hacer means 'to do' or 'to make' and it is one of the essential Spanish verbs to learn. It is used in many everyday situations, idiomatic expressions and also to discuss the weather!

In English, we have two separate verbs for doing and making, but the Spanish make do with one. Here is the verb conjugated in present, past and future:

                                        Presente                Pretérito                Futuro         
yo                                     hago                       hice                       haré
tú                                     haces                     hiciste                   harás
él/ella/usted                    hace                       hizo                       hará
nosotros                           hacemos                 hicimos                  haremos
vosotros                           hacéis                    hicisteis                 haréis
ellos/ellas/ustedes           hacen                     hicieron                 harán

Past participle: hecho
Gerund: haciendo

Examples:

Present: Todos los días hago las camas. I make the beds every day.
Present: A Juan le hace falta un lápiz – John needs a pencil
Infinitive: ¿Puede ayudarme a hacer una llamada? – Can you help me to make a telephone call?
Infinitive: Tengo que hacer las camas - I have to make the beds.
Past participle: Hecho en China – made in China. See page 254 of Sueños for a list of countries.

Perfect: He hecho un pastel para tu cumpleaños – I have made a cake for your birthday.
Perfect: Ya lo he hecho – I have already done it.
Past: Lo hice ayer – I did it yesterday
Past: Hicimos el almuerzo el lunes – we made lunch on Monday.
Past and future: ayer hice el almuerzo, así que lo harás hoy – I made lunch yesterday, so you will make it today.

Asking how long …

The verb hacer is used to ask how long something has been happening for and to answer. To do this, you use hace que. To ask how long someone has been doing something, you would say: Cuánto tiempo hace que, followed by the verb in the present tense: ¿Cuánto tiempo hace que estudias español? This is the equivalent of using the perfect tense in English: How long have you been studying Spanish?

To answer, you would say: hace (length of time) que, followed by the present tense: Hace seis semanas que estudio español.

¿Cuánto tiempo hace que trabajas aquí? – how long have you been working here?
Hace tres años que trabajo aquí – I have been working here for three years.

Weather

We would say “it is sunny”, but in Spanish they do not use está soleado, instead they say “it makes sun” - hace sol

The weather is good – hace buen tiempo
It is hot - hace calor
It is cooler today – hace más fresco hoy
It is cold – hace frio
The weather is bad – hace mal tiempo
It is sunny – hace sol
It is windy – hace viento

Just to be awkward:

It is raining - está lloviendo
It is cloudy - está nublado

Está lloviendo a cántaros  – it is raining pitchers (cats and dogs), followed by estoy mojado hasta los huesos (I am wet to the bone).

Don't forget to use of the verb tener to say you are hot or cold. So hace sol, tengo calor and hace viento, tengo frio.


Do not forget: the Spanish are not obsessed with the weather like the English. Use these phrases sparingly!

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