hace dos años
/aθe dos aɲos/from spelling rules
The English phrase "two years ago" is expressed in Spanish as hace dos años.
This phrase refers to a point in time that happened twenty-four months before the present.
What does it mean word for word?
Literally, hace dos años translates to "it makes two years", where hace is the third-person singular form of the verb hacer (to make/do).
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Spain, hace dos años ya is commonly used in informal conversations. In certain Latin American countries like Mexico or Colombia, the phrase hace dos años atrás is used.
How does it change in a sentence?
In Spanish, the word for "ago" is expressed by placing the verb hacer in its third-person singular form before the time period. To change the amount of time, you simply change the number following hace (e.g., hace tres años for "three years ago").
How do you pronounce it?
/aθe dos aɲos/
Did you know?
- If you were speaking Italian instead of Spanish, you would use the word fa to mean 'ago', but unlike the Spanish hace, this word would follow the time period rather than preceding it.
- The word dos shares the same Proto-Indo-European ancestor as the English word 'two'. You can see the connection in how both words evolved from the ancient root *dwóh₁.
- The word hace in this phrase is an impersonal verb form, meaning it has no actual subject like 'he' or 'she' performing the action.
Examples in context
- Ocurrió hace dos años.It happened two years ago.This sentence shows how to use hace dos años to describe when an event occurred.Tatoeba #1715956 by marcelostockle, translation #1714204 by gleki
- Eso fue hace dos años.That was two years ago.This sentence uses hace dos años to state when something was.Tatoeba #2484815 by BoriQa, translation #2483537 by Hybrid
- Taro murió hace dos años.Taro died two years ago.This sentence uses hace dos años to indicate when someone died.Tatoeba #2081073 by Shishir, translation #275177 by CN
- La conferencia sobre el cambio climático tuvo lugar hace dos años.The conference on climate change took place two years ago.
- Nuestros ingresos se duplicaron dos años atrás.Our income doubled two years ago.
- Todavía recuerdo nuestras vacaciones en la costa hace dos años ya.I still remember our vacation on the coast, two years ago already.
- 41 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Javier and Lucía are talking about an old apartment.
- Javier¿Vivías en esa ciudad hace dos años?Did you live in that city two years ago?
- LucíaSí, vivía allí hace dos años.Yes, I lived there two years ago.
- Javier¿Te gustaba mucho el barrio?Did you like the neighborhood a lot?
- LucíaSí, era un lugar muy tranquilo.Yes, it was a very quiet place.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries dos, hace, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
