To express "how long" something had been happening, in Spanish you use:
Hacía + [length of time] + que + verb in El Pretérito Imperfecto
Have a look and listen to these examples:
Hacía unos meses que trabajaba con su padre.He had been working with his dad for a few months.
Hacía varios días que le dolía el estómago.His stomach had been hurting for several days.
Hacía dos semanas que no veía a su novia.He hadn't seen his girlfriend for two weeks.
This structure is also often followed by another sentence expressing an interruption with cuando. For example:
Hacía dos semanas que no la veía cuando ella lo llamó de repente.He hadn't seen her for two weeks when she suddenly called him.
Hacía tres años que trabajaba allí cuando lo despidieron.He had been working there for 3 years when he was fired.
The order of the sentence can be modified as long as you follow this structure:
Verb in El Pretérito Imperfecto + desde hacía + length of time
For example:
Trabajaba en la empresa desde hacía tres años.He had been working in the company for 3 years.
No veía películas del oeste desde hacía años.I hadn't watched a Western for years. [lit: Western films]
See also:
- Using desde (hace) with the present instead of the perfect tense to express since/for
- Using Hace + length of time + que + present tense in Spanish to say how long one has done something
- Use Hace + length of time + que + the preterite tense in Spanish to say how long ago something happened
- Use "hace" for "ago" with the preterite tense (El Pretérito Indefinido)
Want to make sure your Spanish sounds confident? We’ll map your knowledge and give you free lessons to focus on your gaps and mistakes. Start your Brainmap today »
