I haven't seen her in a long time

Question

I'm a bit confused as to which of the "have" verbs I should be using in this case - tener, haber or deber? I certainly need help clearing this up.

Answer 1

No la he visto desde hace mucho tiempo = I have not seen her for a long time

Desde hace is used to mean for/since as in: for a long time

I hope this helps

Corregid mi español por favor

Gracias Feliz77 y todos - croberts, Feb 3, 2011

Please note a minor correction that I needed to make No la he visto is correct oreder not la no he visto ! - FELIZ77, Feb 3, 2011

Yeah, I totally messed up myself by writing "La no he visto..." - webdunce, Feb 3, 2011

I meant order - FELIZ77, Feb 3, 2011

Answer 2

La no he visto desde hace mucho tiempo = I have not seen her for a long time

This is not correct, Feliz. It should be " No la he visto......". It still sounds a little odd to me, but it would be gramatically correct.

I would just say "hace mucho tiempo que no la veo".

Gracias Guillermo - FELIZ77, Feb 3, 2011

Ya he hecho la correción - FELIZ77, Feb 3, 2011

Thanks Guillermo. Makes sense to me too. - croberts, Feb 3, 2011

Yikes! I can't believe I also said, "la no he visto"...I know better! I better go correct my post. - webdunce, Feb 3, 2011

Answer 3

I like "Hace mucho tiempo que no la veo." It sort of follows the rules as I understand them. I also appreciate the "desde hace...". But here's a question-- could I avoid the hazardous grammar by saying "Llevo mucho tiempo sin verla."?

Yes, you can. - 00e657d4, Feb 3, 2011

Answer 4

I'm not an expert. My attempt at your sentence would be...

No la he visto hace mucho tiempo.

I've never felt comfortable with the whole hace thing for time; so that is where my doubt lies. I haven't seen her is definitely "la no he visto." - webdunce, Feb 3, 2011

Web I think you are almost correct but I would say desde hace mucho tiempo :) - FELIZ77, Feb 3, 2011

Okay, I was totally wrong to say, "la no he visto..."; it should be "no la he visto..." - webdunce, Feb 3, 2011

Answer 5

I think instead of 'hace mucho tiempo', it's 'desde hace mucho tiempo'.

SEb you are correct:) - FELIZ77, Feb 3, 2011

Answer 6

'No la he visto desde hace mucho tiempo.' or 'No he visto a ella desde hace mucho tiempo.'

'Hace mucho tiempo' - means 'a long time ago'

'desce hace mucho tiempo' - means 'for a long time', like in the sentence from the topic.

In english you use the verb 'to have', which in spanish is can be divided, by the meanings: tener(to have, to posses), deber (to have to, must), haber (auxillary).

Here only 'haber'!!

Bye ;D

Answer 7

'Haber' As an Auxiliary Verb: It's Perfect!

Quoted from Spanishdict resources section: 'The present perfect (el pretérito perfecto) is a combination of the past participle and the present indicative of the verb haber. The present perfect describes an action that happened in the past and continues or repeats into the present or an action that happened in the recent past.'

Answer 8

You wouldn't use 'deber'. 'Deber' means, 'to have to do something' in terms of duty and in 'to owe'. I think 'haber' would be suited to this sentence.

Only haber can be used to form tenses. It's definitely haber. - webdunce, Feb 3, 2011

Answer 9

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[e-mail]

Answer 10

I'm just learning, but I'll give this a shot. "Hace mucho tiempo que no la he visto." I'm a little bit worried about the "no la he visto" but the corrections will be educational for me as well!

Answer 11

~The above is simply my humble opinion....you'll have to wait and hear from the experts.