hai / fai + Time
Time Ago: Hai and Fai
Hai or fai + time means ago: Cheguei hai tres días (I arrived three days ago). With que it says how long: Fai moito que non te vexo (I have not seen you for a long time).
How It Works
Ago: a past tense, usually the preterite, + hai or fai + time: Coñecémonos hai dez anos (We met ten years ago), Hai un momento estaba aquí (She was here a moment ago). Hai and fai mean the same here.
How long, with que: hai or fai + time + que + present: Hai un mes que non chove (It has not rained for a month). The present shows that the situation still holds.
Since: desde hai + time marks a situation that started then and still continues: Vivo en Lugo desde hai dous anos (I have lived in Lugo for two years). Another common way is levar + time: Levo dous anos en Lugo.
No plural: the verb stays singular, as with hai for there is: hai tres semanas (three weeks ago).
In the past: when the reference point is itself in the past, use the copretérito: Había dous anos que non a vía (I had not seen her for two years).
Future: hai only looks back. For in three days, use dentro de: Chego dentro de tres días (I arrive in three days).
Galician forms: hace is Spanish; say hai or fai. For something that happened only moments ago, see acabar de.
Examples (6)
- Cheguei hai tres días.
I arrived three days ago.
Word by Word: Arrived-I there-is three days.
- Fai moito que non te vexo.
I have not seen you for a long time.
Word by Word: Makes much that not you see-I.
fai + time + que + present.
- Coñecémonos hai dez anos.
We met ten years ago.
Word by Word: Knew-we-each-other there-is ten years.
- Hai un mes que non chove.
It has not rained for a month.
Word by Word: There-is a month that not rains.
- Vivo en Lugo desde hai dous anos.
I have lived in Lugo for two years.
Word by Word: Live-I in Lugo since there-is two years.
desde hai for a situation that continues.
- Hai un momento estaba aquí.
She was here a moment ago.
Word by Word: There-is a moment was here.
Common Mistakes
Using the Spanish word hace.
Cheguei hace tres días.Cheguei hai tres días.Ago is hai or fai in Galician.
Using hai for a time in the future (intended meaning: I arrive in three days).
Chego hai tres días.Chego dentro de tres días.Hai + time only points back to the past. For a time ahead, use dentro de.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Hai and fai introduce a length of elapsed time without plural agreement.
Related Patterns
- levar + TimeHow Long: Levar
Another way to say how long something has lasted.
Level 3 - acabar de + InfinitiveJust Done: Acabar De
For something that happened only moments ago.
Level 2 - Using the Preterite for Completed Actions
The past tense usually used with hai.
Level 2 - onte / hoxe / mañáTime Words
Other words that place events in time.
Level 2 - ata / desde / entre / sobre / cara aMore Prepositions: Ata, Desde, Entre and Sobre
Desde, used in desde hai.
Level 2
Words in This Pattern
Practice hai / fai + Time in Bubblegum
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