Learning Objectives
This week we are going to learn
- Hace tiempo
- Pronombres posesivos
- Aclaración: indicar posesión
Using hace tiempo: talking about a long time ago
We use the expression hace tiempo to talk about how long ago something happened in the past.
Don’t worry; it has nothing to do with the verb hacer!
In fact, we can use it in two ways:
1. Hace + expresión de tiempo + que + frase con verbo en presente
Hace + an expression of time (or length of time) + que + phrase with a verb in the present tense.
Ejemplos
Hace dos años que estudio español I’ve been studying Spanish for 2 years
Hace mucho tiempo que ella vive en Christchurch She’s live in Christchurch for a long time
Hace cinco meses que no voy al cine I haven’t been to the cinema in 5 months
This construction implies that the past event is still ongoing in the present.
2. Hace + expresión de tiempo + que + frase con verbo en pretérito indefinido
Hace + an expresión of time (or length of time) + que + phrase with a verb in the preterite (simple past) tense.
Ejemplos
Hace tres días que fui a Geelong (= “fui a Geelong hace tres días”) I went to Geelong 3 days ago
Hace cuatro años que viajamos a Perú (= “viajamos a Perú hace cuatro años) It’s been four years since we travelled to Peru
Hace dos semanas que comieron en un restaurante (= “comieron en un restaurante hace dos semanas”) It’s been two weeks since they ate at a restaurant
The last structure is used to tell when an action or event occurred and is unrelated to the present.
Other expressions and useful vocabulary
Expresiones de tiempo (expressions related to time):
|
Minutos |
Minutes |
|
Horas |
Hours |
|
Días |
Days |
|
Semanas |
Weeks |
|
Meses |
Months |
|
Años |
Years |
|
Décadas |
Decades |
|
Siglos |
Centuries |
|
Mucho tiempo |
A long time |
|
Poco tiempo |
A short time |
|
Una eternidad |
An eternity |
Ejemplos de preguntas con hacer
¿Cuántos años hace que vives en tu ciudad? How long since you’ve been living in your city?
¿Cuánto tiempo hace que estudias español? How long since you’ve been studying Spanish?
¿Cuánto tiempo hace que no vas al cine? How long since you haven’t been to the cinema?
¿Cuánto tiempo hace que trabajas? How long since you’ve been working?
¿Cuántos minutos hace que estás en este seminario? How long have you been in this seminar?
Expressing possession: possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns
We’re going to look at several ways to talk about possession (in a nutshell, ownership!). We’ll look at possessive adjectives, which help express possession by describing something, and possessive pronouns, which help make shorter sentences. We’ll also look at the sentence structure we need to use in Spanish (it is really different to English).
Note: Remember, an adjective describes and complements something; a pronoun replaces it.
You already know the possessive adjectives:
|
1st person singular |
mi |
mis |
|
2nd person singular |
tu |
tus |
|
3rd person singular |
su |
sus |
|
1st person plural |
nuestro/a |
nuestros/as |
|
2nd person plural |
vuestro/a |
vuestros/as |
|
3rd person plural |
su |
sus |
The key thing to note is that, like all adjectives, these possessive adjectives go with the thing that they describe, and they also agree with it in gender and number.
Ejemplos
Mi amiga se llama Manuela. Mis perros se llaman Can y Willow Mi friend’s name is Manuela. My dogs are called Can and Willow
¿Cuánto cuesta tu chaqueta? ¿y tus pantalones? How much was your jacket? And your pants?
No me gustan sus gafas. No me gusta su bigote I don’t like his/her sunglasses. I don’t like his/her moustache.
Vamos a limpiar nuestra casa / nuestro apartamento / nuestras habitaciones / nuestros libros We’re going to clean our house/our apartment/our rooms/our books
Debéis cuidar vuestra salud / vuestro cuerpo / vuestros cuerpos / vuestras families You should look after your health/your body/your bodies/your families
No me gustan sus casas. No me gusta su casa I don’t like their houses. I don’t like his/her house.
The possessive pronouns are very similar, but because a pronoun replaces the noun (instead of complementing it as the adjective does), they are a bit different: they have the same gender and number as the thing possessed, but they replace it; they don’t go with it.
|
1st person singular |
el mío/la mía |
los míos/las mías |
|
2nd person singular |
el tuyo/la tuya |
los tuyos/las tuyas |
|
3rd person singular: |
el suyo/la suya |
los suyos/las suyas |
|
1st person plural: |
el nuestro la nuestra |
los nuestros/las nuestras |
|
2nd person plural |
el vuestro/el vuestro |
los vuestros/las vuestras |
|
3rd person plural |
el suyo/la suya |
los suyos/las suyas |
Ejemplos
El piso de mi amigo es pequeño. El mío es más grande My friend’s apartment is small. Mine (or my one) is bigger
¿Cuál de estas camisas es la tuya? Which of these shirts is your one?
Mi coche no funciona. ¿Puedo usar el vuestro? My car doesn’t work. Can I use your one?
Mis tortillas no son muy buenas. Las suyas (de mi amigo) están mucho más ricas My tortillas aren’t very good. His are much tastier.
No me gustan vuestros amigos. Los nuestros son mucho más interesantes I don’t like your friends. Our friends are much more interesting.
Creo que tienes mi teléfono. Ese es el mío. Este es el tuyo I think you have my phone. This is mine. That one is yours
A further note on expressing possession in Spanish: apostrophes are prohibited!
In Spanish, we can’t use an apostrophe to express possession. If you do it, your teacher will cry, dogs will whine, cats will run away from home, plants will wilt, flowers will burn, and most importantly, everyone will be confused.
We do talk about possession all the time in Spanish; however, we use the following formula:
Definite article (el/la) + object/person that is possessed + de + object/person it belongs to
Ejemplo
La + guitarra + de Jimi Jimi’s guitar
Más ejemplos
La casa de Ramón Ramón’s house
El amigo de Israel Israel’s friend
El perro de Elena Elena’s dog
Las ventanas de mi casa The windows of my house
Los ingredientes de la tortilla The tortilla’s ingredients
Well, students, that was all for the beginners’ level; now you are prepared to further your Spanish knowledge and start intermediate! Can you believe it? Remember to keep practising your vocabulary and the new tenses learnt during these 10 weeks.
See you at the intermediate level!
¡Hasta luego!
