Hello!

Do you know when to use “desde” and “desde hace” when you talk about time?

Let’s think that we are in December and that we want to translate into Spanish the following two sentences:

• I haven’t seen Maria since October.
• I haven’t seen Maria for the last two months.

In English, as you can see, we can choose between giving an specific point of time as a reference (October) or providing a period of time (two months). In English, you use [“since”+specific point of time] and [“for”+period of time]. Right?

In Spanish, we also have both options. When you decide to go for the specific point of time, you will have to use “desde”. Instead, if you prefer to provide a period of time as a reference, you will have to use “desde hace”.

• I haven’t seen Maria since October. –> No he visto a María desde octubre.
• I haven’t seen Maria for the last two months. –> No he visto a María desde hace dos meses.

–>  In German, we use the word “seit” in both cases (seit Oktober, seit 2 Monate).

More examples in Spanish:

– Soy vegetariana. No como carne desde 2004.

– Soy vegetariana. No como carne desde hace 15 años.

– Vivo en Londres desde enero.

– Vivo en Londres desde hace 3 meses.

– No voy al cine desde Navidad.

– No voy al cine desde hace medio año.

BESIDES, if you want to say “ago” in Spanish, then you will have to use “hace”. Let’s see an example:

• I saw Maria two months ago. –> Vi a María hace dos meses.

–>  In German, we use the word “vor” in this case (vor 2 Monate).

I hope this post was useful and helped you to understand the difference between “desde” and “desde hace” while talking about time. Do not hesitate to ask me any question!