Hacer Conjugation: Complete Guide to 'To Do' or 'To Make'

During his first week in Mexico City, James wanted to ask his coworker what she did over the weekend. He tried "¿Qué hiciste el fin de semana?" and she answered with a full story—about the food she made (hizo una cena), the weather (hacía mucho calor), and how long ago she moved to the city (hace tres años). In one conversation, James heard hacer in three different tenses with three different meanings. That's the reality of this verb: hacer shows up everywhere, and it does far more than just "to do" or "to make."

Hacer is the Swiss Army knife of Spanish verbs. You need it for everyday actions, weather, time expressions, and dozens of fixed phrases. It's also irregular in several tenses, which means you can't just follow a simple pattern—you need to learn its specific forms. This guide covers every major tense, all the key expressions, and enough practice to make hacer automatic.

Why Hacer Is Essential

Hacer ranks among the top ten most-used Spanish verbs. You'll encounter it in:

• Daily actions: Hacer la tarea (do homework), hacer ejercicio (exercise), hacer la cama (make the bed)
• Weather: Hace frío (it's cold), hace sol (it's sunny)
• Time expressions: Hace dos meses (two months ago)
• Questions: ¿Qué haces? (What are you doing?), ¿Qué hiciste? (What did you do?)
• Fixed phrases: Hacer caso (pay attention), hacer falta (need), hacer daño (hurt)

Without hacer, you can't describe what happened, what's happening, or what the weather is like.

Present Tense (Presente)

The only irregularity is the first person: hago (not "haco").

Example sentences:

• ¿Qué haces los fines de semana? (What do you do on weekends?)
• Hago ejercicio todas las mañanas. (I exercise every morning.)
• Hacemos la compra los sábados. (We do the shopping on Saturdays.)
• ¿Qué hacen tus padres? (What do your parents do?)

Preterite (Pretérito Indefinido)

The preterite has an irregular stem: hic-. The third person singular changes to hiz- (c → z) to preserve the /s/ sound before the vowel "o."

Example sentences:

• Ayer hice una paella increíble. (Yesterday I made an incredible paella.)
• ¿Qué hiciste el fin de semana? (What did you do over the weekend?)
• Hizo mucho frío el invierno pasado. (It was very cold last winter.)
• Hicimos un viaje a la playa. (We took a trip to the beach.)

Imperfect (Pretérito Imperfecto)

Good news: the imperfect of hacer is completely regular.

Example sentences:

• Cuando era niño, hacía la tarea después de la escuela. (When I was a kid, I used to do homework after school.)
• Hacía mucho calor aquel verano. (It was very hot that summer.)
• ¿Qué hacías cuando te llamé? (What were you doing when I called you?)

Preterite vs Imperfect with Hacer

Future Tense (Futuro Simple)

Hacer has an irregular future stem: har- (not "hacer-").

Example sentences:

• Mañana haré ejercicio temprano. (Tomorrow I'll exercise early.)
• ¿Qué harás este fin de semana? (What will you do this weekend?)
• Haremos una fiesta para tu cumpleaños. (We'll throw a party for your birthday.)

Conditional (Condicional Simple)

Same irregular stem: har-.

Example: ¿Qué harías con un millón de dólares? (What would you do with a million dollars?)

Present Subjunctive (Subjuntivo Presente)

Built from the irregular first-person stem hag-:

Example sentences:

• Espero que hagas tu tarea. (I hope you do your homework.)
• No creo que haga frío mañana. (I don't think it will be cold tomorrow.)
• Quiero que hagamos algo divertido. (I want us to do something fun.)

Weather Expressions with Hacer

Spanish uses hacer impersonally (third person singular, no subject) for weather. This is one of the most unique and frequently tested uses of the verb:

Note: For rain and snow, Spanish uses llover (llueve) and nevar (nieva), not hacer.

Time-Ago Expressions with Hacer

Another essential pattern: hace + time period = "ago."

• Hace dos años — Two years ago
• Hace una semana — A week ago
• Hace mucho tiempo — A long time ago
• ¿Cuánto tiempo hace? — How long ago?

You can also flip the structure: Llegué hace tres horas = I arrived three hours ago.

For duration up to the present, use hace + time + que + present tense:

• Hace dos años que estudio español. (I've been studying Spanish for two years.)

Essential Expressions with Hacer

Learn these as vocabulary chunks—they appear constantly:

• hacer caso — to pay attention, to obey: No me hace caso.
• hacer falta — to need, to be necessary: Me hace falta más tiempo.
• hacer daño — to hurt, to harm: No quiero hacer daño.
• hacer cola — to stand in line: Hicimos cola durante una hora.
• hacer un viaje — to take a trip: Hicimos un viaje a Costa Rica.
• hacer la compra — to do the grocery shopping
• hacer ejercicio — to exercise
• hacer una pregunta — to ask a question
• hacerse — to become: Se hizo famoso.

Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them

1. Wrong first person: "Haco" → Hago. The yo-go pattern applies to hacer.
2. Preterite third person: "Hició" → Hizo. The c changes to z to keep the /s/ sound.
3. Future stem error: "Haceré" → Haré. The future stem is har-, not hacer-.
4. Weather with ser/estar: "Es frío" or "Está frío" (for weather) → Hace frío. Weather uses hacer, not ser or estar. ("Está frío" works for objects: "El café está frío.")
5. Time-ago word order: "Dos años hace" → Hace dos años. The standard order is hace + time period.

Step-by-Step Plan: Mastering Hacer in 7 Days

• Day 1: Memorize the present tense. Write five sentences about your daily routine with hacer.
• Day 2: Learn weather expressions. Describe today's weather and yesterday's weather using hacer.
• Day 3: Learn the preterite (hice, hizo). Write five sentences about what you did last week.
• Day 4: Practice time-ago expressions. Tell someone five things that happened "hace + time."
• Day 5: Learn the imperfect. Describe habits from your childhood: "Hacía la tarea," "Hacía frío."
• Day 6: Learn the future and conditional (haré, haría). Describe plans and hypotheticals.
• Day 7: Review all tenses. Write a short story that uses hacer in at least four tenses.

Practice Exercises

Exercise 1 — Fill in the present tense:

1. Yo ___ ejercicio por la mañana. (hago)
2. ¿Qué ___ tú los domingos? (haces)
3. Ellos ___ la compra juntos. (hacen)

Exercise 2 — Weather or time?

1. ___ mucho calor en verano. (Hace — weather)
2. ___ tres años que vivo aquí. (Hace — duration)
3. Ayer ___ buen tiempo. (hizo — past weather)

Exercise 3 — Preterite or imperfect?

1. ___ la cena anoche. (Hice — completed action)
2. Cuando era joven, ___ deporte todos los días. (hacía — habitual)
3. ___ mucho viento ese día. (Hizo — specific past day)

Start Using Hacer in Real Conversations

Hacer is the kind of verb that becomes natural only through consistent use. Describe your day, talk about the weather, tell stories about what you did—every conversation is a chance to practice different tenses. If you want structured daily practice with real-time corrections on your verb forms, try Parlai and start using hacer in context today.