¿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