Modern Spanish Grammar: A Practical Guide

(lily) #1
¿Qué sueles hacer los sábados por la noche?
What do you usually do on Saturday nights?

Suelo ir al cine.
I usually go to the cinema.

¿Qué soléis hacer los domingos?
What do you usually do on Sundays?

Solemos visitar a nuestros padres.
We usually visit our parents.

71.6.3 Present tense of acostumbrar+ infinitive


Acostumbrar, ‘to usually (do, etc.)’, ‘to be in the habit of’, a regular verb, functions
here in the same way as soler, but it is less frequent and it tends to be used in more
formal contexts.

No acostumbro levantarme tarde.
I don’t usually get up late.

Acostumbramos hacer mucho ejercicio.
We usually do a lot of exercise.

¿A qué hora acostumbra levantarse usted?
What time do you usually get up?

Acostumbro levantarme a las 7.00.
I usually get up at 7.00.

 26.2.2.1 (p. 134)
In parts of Latin America acostumbrar takes the preposition a.

Acostumbra a tomar un café a eso de las 11.00.
He/she usually has coffee about 11.00.

71.7 Saying how long one has been doing something


71.7.1 Hace+ time phrase +que+ present tense


Sentences like ‘I’ve been waiting for a long time’, ‘He’s been like that for an hour’,
express a continuous action or state which began at some moment in the past and
which is still in progress. To express such ideas, Spanish uses the present tense in a
construction with hace followed by an expression of time (e.g. mucho tiempo,‘a
long time’), plus que and a verb in the present.

Hace mucho rato que espero.
I’ve been waiting for a long time.

Hace una hora que está así.
He/she’s been like that for an hour.

Hace dos años que vivo aquí.
I’ve been living here for two years.

Saying how long one has been doing something 71.7

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