'Desde Hace' with Present & Imperfect
Spanish: Cambridge International GCSE, topic 11.9.5
Using 'Desde Hace'
'Desde hace' expresses how long an action has been going on and uses the present simple.
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.
'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.
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.
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.