Spanish Grammar For Dummies
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Spanish verbs fall into different groups, and each group is conjugated a little differently. If you’re going to master Spanish verbs like hacer, you need to be able to identify which group a verb belongs to: regular (follows regular conjugation rules for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs), stem-changing (morphs depending on how you use it in a sentence), spelling-changing (has consonant-spelling changes in some forms to follow pronunciation rules), or reflexive (reflects the action back on the subject of the sentence).

In the present tense, hacer (ah-sehr) (to do/make) has an irregular yo form, but otherwise it conjugates like a regular -er verb. Other popular irregular Spanish verbs include: ser, ir, dormir and estar. Here’s the present tense conjugation:

The Present Tense of Hacer
Conjugation Translation
yo hago I do
tú haces You (informal) do
él/ella/ello/uno hace He/she/one does
usted hace You (formal) do
nosotros hacemos We do
vosotros hacéis You all (informal) do
ellos/ellas hacen They do
ustedes hacen You all (formal) do
The following examples show you hacer in action:

  • ¿Haces tu trabajo con buena voluntad? (Do you do your work willingly?)

  • Yo hago mi trabajo en silencio. (I do my work in silence.)

In the preterit, hacer has an irregular stem: hic-. The third-person singular form undergoes a c-to-z spelling-change to preserve the correct pronunciation. Notice also that hacer doesn’t have the accent marks regular verbs use in the preterit. Take a look:
The Preterit Tense of Hacer
Conjugation Translation
yo hice I did
tú hiciste You (informal) did
él/ella/ello/uno hizo He/she/one did
usted hizo You (formal) did
nosotros hicimos We did
vosotros hicisteis You all (informal) did
ellos/ellas hicieron They did
ustedes hicieron You all (formal) did
You use the preterit tense like this:

  • Hice mucho ejercicio anoche. (I exercised a lot last night.)

  • Los turistas hicieron una parada en Madrid. (The tourists made a stop in Madrid.)

Good news: Hacer conjugates regularly in the imperfect form. Check out the following table and examples.
The Imperfect Tense of Hacer
Conjugation Translation
yo hacía I used to do
tú hacías You (informal) used to do
él/ella/ello/uno hacía He/she/one used to do
usted hacía You (formal) used to do
nosotros hacíamos We used to do
vosotros hacíais You all (informal) used to do
ellos/ellas hacían They used to do
ustedes hacían You all (formal) used to do
Here are some examples of the imperfect tense:

  • ¿Hacían ustedes buenas obras? (Did you used to do good works?)

  • Si. Hacíamos buenas obras siempre. (Yes. We always used to do good works.)

Hacer also has an irregular stem in the future tense: har-. However, it does use the normal future endings:
The Future Tense of Hacer
Conjugation Translation
yo hare I will do
tú harás You (informal) will do
él/ella/ello/uno hará He/she/one will do
usted hará You (formal) will do
nosotros haremos We will do
vosotros haréis You all (informal) will do
ellos/ellas harán They will do
ustedes harán You all (formal) will do
The following samples put the future tense to work:

  • Yo haré el pastel este fin de semana. (I will make the cake this weekend.)

  • ¿Harán ellos sus deberes escolares? (Will they do their school work?)

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