11.9.5

'Desde Hace' with Present & Imperfect

Test yourself

Using 'Desde Hace'

'Desde hace' expresses how long an action has been going on and uses the present simple.

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What is 'desde hace'?

  • 'Desde hace' means 'for' in English.
  • 'Desde hace' mentions the duration of an action.
  • 'Desde hace' works with time expressions like minutes, hours, days, months, years...
  • 'Desde hace' always describes how long something lasts.
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'Desde hace' + present tense

  • Use present tense for actions still happening now.
  • The subject is doing or feeling something now.
  • Ella estudia español desde hace dos años.
    • She has been studying Spanish for two years.
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Examples

  • Desde hace tres meses, vivo en Londres.
    • I have lived in London for three months.
  • Desde hace una semana, ellos practican tenis.
    • They have been practising tennis for a week.
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Imperfect

  • If you want to talk about the past, you can use 'desde hacía' + imperfect tense:
  • Juan estudiaba desde hacía tres meses.
    • Juan had been studying for three months.

Jump to other topics

1The Basics

2Everyday Activities

3Personal & Social Life

4The World Around Us

5The World of Work

6The International World

7Listening

7.1Time Expressions - Listening

7.2The Human Body & Health - Listening

7.3Food & Drink - Listening

7.4Travel & Transport - Listening

7.5Self, Family & Friends - Listening

7.6In the Home - Listening

7.7Colours - Listening

7.8Clothes & Accesories - Listening

7.9Leisure Time - Listening

7.10People & Places - Listening

7.11The Environment - Listening

7.12Communications & Technology - Listening

7.13The Built Environment - Listening

7.14Measurements - Listening

7.15Materials - Listening

7.16The World of Work - Listening

7.17Culture, Customs, Faith & Celebrations

8Common Tenses

8.1Present Tense

8.2Preterite Tense

8.3Imperfect Tense

8.4Preterite vs Imperfect Tenses

8.5Future Tense

9Important Verbs

10Advanced Tenses

10.1Future

10.2Conditional

10.3Continuous Tenses

10.4Perfect Tense

10.5Passive

10.6Present Subjunctive

10.7Imperfect Subjunctive

10.8Imperative

11Extra Grammar

11.1Articles

11.2Negatives

11.3Nouns

11.4Asking Questions

11.5Adjectives

11.6Adverbs

11.7Conjunctions

11.8Pronouns

11.9Prepositions

11.10Verbs

11.11Comparisons & Superlative

11.12Numbers, Expressions of Quantity, Dates & Times

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