Using hace

Question

I need you to help me understand how to use hace. I get in general how to use it. But then I see this example: "Dormía hacía siete horas cuando sonó el reloj"

Dormía hacía siete horas cuando sonó el reloj. A. I was sleeping six hours ago when the alarm went off. B. I have been sleeping for seven hours C. I had been sleeping for seven hours when the alarm went off.

I chose A and then B and then C and it said they were all wrong and then the page froze on me.

I see dormía and I think of imperfect. Is A the answer? I'm so confused

Just so you know, the SD quizzes have some errors in their answers. - JazSpanish, Jan 20, 2013

Haces muchas preguntas pero nunca votas por los que responden. - Jubilado, Jan 21, 2013

Answer 1

Creo que hacia, sin una tilde, significa "to", "towards", o, en este caso, "about", especialmente cuando estamos hablando del tiempo.

Es muy similar, esta palabra, a hacer en el imperfecto, pero tiene una diferencia muy importante.

Mira la pagina para esta palabra: http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/hacia

Espero que haya ayudadote.

---

I think that "hacia", without an accent, means "to", "towards", or, in this case, "about", especially when we're talking about time.

It's very similar, this word, to "hacer" in the imperfect, but it has a very important difference.

Look at the page for this word: http://www.spanishdict.com/translate/hacia

I hope I have helped you.

--Mike

nice job :) - Kiwi-Girl, Jan 20, 2013

una sugerencia - Espero que te haya ayudado ;) - Kiwi-Girl, Jan 20, 2013

Buena publicación Mike... también estoy de acuerdo con Kiwi... deberías escribirlo "Espero que te haya ayudado" - No creo que se vincula nunca un pronombre al participio. - avispao, Jan 20, 2013

Gracias por los consejos, Kiwi-Girl y avispao. No estaba seguro. Originalmente escribí "aduydadote", luego "te haya ayudado" y la cambié otra vez más. Demasiados cambios. :) - emailmike1994, Jan 22, 2013

Answer 2

Mike is right.

hacia.

(Del ant. faze a, cara a).

1. prep. Denota dirección del movimiento con respecto al punto de su término. U. t. en sent. fig.

2. prep. Alrededor de, cerca de. Hacia las tres de la tarde. Ese pueblo está hacia Tordesillas.

Real Academia Española © Todos los derechos reservados

:) - Kiwi-Girl, Jan 20, 2013

I didn't know "hacia" can be used for "near a certain time". Nice. Thanks - JazSpanish, Jan 20, 2013

Answer 3

To the original question, the answer is C. I think they are asking you for the meaning of the sentence, rather than a literal translation.

I do have a question about hacía here.

"Dormía hacía siete horas cuando sonó el reloj"

Is it possible that the hacía is not spelled wrong here?

Hace dos años = it has been two years. So can it be that:

hacía siete horas = it has been 7 hours?

I think the answer is NO. Lol, yes, I check my own imagined Spanish with Linguee.com sometimes.

Forget the previous question. Can I say this:

Dormía desde hacía siete horas cuando sonó el reloj.

For a short time period such as 7 hours, is it natural to use "desde hacer"?

Gracias,

Answer 4

Hi Kyle, if those were your only options, I would have 100% chosen C

C. I had been sleeping for seven hours when the alarm went off.

Dormía hacía siete horas cuando sonó el reloj.

Hace un año y un mes que estudio el español = It makes one year and a month that I study Spanish (completely literal translation)

Hacía un año y un mes que estudiaba el español cuando me di por vencido = It made a year and a month that I had been studying Spanish when I quit.

There is also the word "hacia" which means 'towards' ...but... I don't see why C would be marked wrong.