How do we differentiate hace of the verb "hacer" and hace that means "ago"?

Question

Please reply soon!

Answer 1

It's not unusual for languages to have different solutions to express the same idea. That's why it is a bad idea to try to translate every single word. You have to translate the idea. In English, German etc . you use 'to be', 'sein' to say ' It is cold,/es ist kalt', in French you say 'il fait froid', in Spanish ' hace frío'. Both 'faire' and 'hacer' are later developments of the Latin word 'facere'. The same thing goes for the tenses of the verbs. In comparison with other languages the conjugation has been simplified a lot in English, so we have to use other words such as 'ago' to express the same idea that in some other languages can be expressed by choosing a particular form of the verb.

Very true I learnt that important point about understanding and translating the heart of what was being communicated when I received Spanish lessons from a lady whose childern I had helped to teach in Primary school She taught me Spanish and... - FELIZ77, Jun 29, 2011

she was married to a native Spaniard. She had a degree in Spanish too:) - FELIZ77, Jun 29, 2011

Answer 2

It is actually still hacer.

For example,

Hace tres años que empecé a trabajar aquí literally means It makes three years that I started to work here, but that is not good English, so it usually gets translated as I started working here three years ago.

More about time expressions using hacer.

Nice link - 0074b507, Jun 29, 2011

Good example and link, Web :) - FELIZ77, Jun 29, 2011

I have added it to my favourites tab lol :) - FELIZ77, Jun 29, 2011