Spanish grammar · Beginner
Hacer Conjugation: Every Tense with Examples
Hacer means to do or to make in Spanish, also used in weather (hace frío), time-elapsed expressions (hace dos años), and dozens of idioms. Highly irregular across present (hago, haces), preterite (hice), and future (haré).
Hago la cena cada noche.
I make dinner every night.
What it is
Hacer means to do or to make. It's irregular almost everywhere: hago (yo present), hice (preterite, with i instead of e), haré (future). It also powers weather (hace calor), time-ago expressions (hace dos años), and many idioms.
In Hago la cena cada noche (I make dinner every night), hago is the yo form. Hacer covers both English do (Hago ejercicio = I exercise) and make (Hago un pastel = I make a cake).
How to spot it
Look for hag- (yo present, subjunctive stem), hac- (other present forms), or hic-/hiz- (preterite). The yo preterite is hice, note the i where you'd expect an e.
- Hace frío hoy. — It's cold today.
- Hice la tarea anoche. — I did the homework last night.
- ¿Qué haces este fin de semana? — What are you doing this weekend?
Hace + weather noun is fixed (hace sol, hace viento). Hace + time + que / desde hace + time covers all time-elapsed Spanish.
Hacer Conjugation Quick Reference
Hacer at a glance, the most-used forms across tenses
| Person | Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Future | Subjunctive |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | hago | hice | hacía | haré | haga |
| tú | haces | hiciste | hacías | harás | hagas |
| él/ella/Ud. | hace | hizo | hacía | hará | haga |
| nosotros | hacemos | hicimos | hacíamos | haremos | hagamos |
| vosotros | hacéis | hicisteis | hacíais | haréis | hagáis |
| ellos/Uds. | hacen | hicieron | hacían | harán | hagan |
Common Hacer Conjugation Examples in Spanish
Hacer powers four key real-world contexts in Spanish, actions, weather, time-elapsed, and idioms.
Doing & Making
- Hago ejercicio cada día.
- I exercise every day.
- Haces muchas preguntas.
- You ask a lot of questions.
- Hacemos un viaje a México.
- We're taking a trip to Mexico.
- Hacen ruido.
- They're making noise.
Hacer covers both English do (action / activity) and make (create / produce). Context tells you which.
Weather (Hace + Noun)
- Hace calor.
- It's hot.
- Hace frío.
- It's cold.
- Hace sol.
- It's sunny.
- Hace viento.
- It's windy.
Weather uses hacer + noun (calor, frío, sol, viento). The verb stays in third-person singular: hace.
Time Elapsed (Hace + Time)
- Hace dos años que vivo aquí.
- I've lived here for two years.
- Hace una hora que te espero.
- I've been waiting for you for an hour.
- Hace mucho tiempo.
- A long time ago. / It's been a long time.
- Lo vi hace tres días.
- I saw him three days ago.
Hace + time + que covers English for X time / X time ago. The verb structure stays fixed.
Common Idioms
- Hacer la cama.
- To make the bed.
- Hacer una pregunta.
- To ask a question.
- Hacer caso.
- To pay attention.
- Hacer falta.
- To be needed / lacking.
Spanish has dozens of fixed expressions with hacer. Memorize the common ones as whole phrases.
How to Conjugate Hacer Across Tenses
Present, Irregular Yo (Hago); Other Forms Regular
The yo form drops to hago. Every other present-tense form is regular: haces, hace, hacemos, hacéis, hacen.
Yo hago, tú haces, ella hace, nosotros hacemos, vosotros hacéis, ellos hacen.
I do, you do, she does, we do, you all do, they do.
Hago is the form to memorize first, every other present-tense form is regular.
Preterite, Hic- / Hiz- (Special Spelling)
The preterite uses an irregular stem: hice, hiciste, hizo, hicimos, hicisteis, hicieron. Note hizo (third person singular) uses z instead of c for spelling reasons. No accents on any form.
Ella hizo una torta para su madre.
She made a cake for her mother.
Hizo is the spelling oddity, c becomes z before o to preserve the s sound across Latin American Spanish and the th sound in Spain.
Future / Conditional, Irregular Stem Har-
Future and conditional drop the c and use the stem har-: haré, harás, hará; haría, harías, haría. Same shape as decir → diré.
Mañana haré el examen.
Tomorrow I'll take the exam.
Hacer joins decir as a verb that loses a consonant in the future / conditional stem.
Past Participle, Hecho (Irregular)
The past participle is the irregular hecho (not the expected hacido). Used in compound tenses: he hecho, había hecho, habré hecho.
He hecho mi mejor esfuerzo.
I've done my best.
Hecho is also the past participle behind common phrases like un hecho (a fact) and de hecho (in fact).
Common Mistakes with Hacer Conjugation
Incorrect: Yo haco la cena. — I make dinner. (wrong, yo form is hago, not haco)
Correct: Yo hago la cena. — I make dinner.
The yo form drops to hago, parallel to tengo / vengo / pongo, Spanish often inserts a g in the yo form of -er and -ir verbs that end in -cer / -ner / -nir.
Incorrect: Ayer haci la tarea. — Yesterday I did the homework. (wrong, preterite yo is hice, not haci)
Correct: Ayer hice la tarea. — Yesterday I did the homework.
The preterite uses the irregular hic- stem with no written accents. Hice and hizo both swap the expected e for i.
Incorrect: Yo he hacido todo. — I've done everything. (wrong, past participle is hecho, not hacido)
Correct: Yo he hecho todo. — I've done everything.
The past participle is the irregular hecho. Same pattern as escrito (from escribir), visto (from ver), and dicho (from decir).
Hacer Across Every Tense
Hacer is irregular in nearly every tense. These four panels cover everything you'll need.
Present
Only the yo form is irregular (hago). Other forms are regular -er endings.
| yo |
| tú |
| él/ella/usted |
| nosotros |
| vosotros |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes |
Hace is also the verb behind weather (hace frío) and time-ago (hace dos años).
Preterite (Hic- / Hiz-)
Irregular stem hic- becomes hiz- in third person singular for spelling reasons.
| yo |
| tú |
| él/ella/usted |
| nosotros |
| vosotros |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes |
Watch the c → z swap in hizo. The pronunciation stays consistent across the conjugation.
Imperfect (Hacía)
Fully regular -er imperfect. Used for ongoing past actions and background descriptions.
| yo |
| tú |
| él/ella/usted |
| nosotros |
| vosotros |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes |
Hacía describes what you used to do; hice marks a one-shot completed action.
Future, Conditional, Subjunctive, Past Participle
Future/conditional uses har-. Subjunctive builds on hago → hag- + -a. Past participle is hecho.
| yo (future) |
| yo (conditional) |
| yo (present subjunctive) |
| past participle |
| yo (present perfect) |
Haga shows up constantly in subjunctive triggers: Quiero que hagas el trabajo, Espero que haga buen tiempo.
Hacer in Weather and Time-Elapsed Expressions
Weather (Hace + Noun)
Spanish describes weather with hacer + noun (calor, frío, sol, viento). The verb stays in third-person singular: hace.
- Hace mucho calor hoy.
- It's very hot today.
- Hizo frío anoche.
- It was cold last night.
Don't use ser or estar for these weather conditions, hacer is the only verb that works.
Time-Ago and Duration (Hace + Time)
Hace + time + que + present tense = have been doing X for Y time. Verb + hace + time = X time ago.
- Hace cinco años que estudio español.
- I've been studying Spanish for five years.
- Llegué hace una hora.
- I arrived an hour ago.
Hace doesn't conjugate in these expressions, it's locked in third person singular.
Idiomatic Hacer Phrases
Many Spanish expressions are fixed pairings of hacer + noun. Learn them as whole phrases.
- Hacer caso a alguien.
- To pay attention to someone.
- Hacer la cama.
- To make the bed.
Native speakers chain these constantly. Hearing them in real Parrot videos makes them stick faster than memorizing lists.
Hacer Conjugation FAQs
- What does hacer mean and when do you use it in Spanish?
- Hacer means to do or to make, used for actions (Hago ejercicio), creating things (Hago una torta), weather (Hace frío), time-ago (hace dos años), and dozens of idioms (hacer la cama, hacer caso).
- How does hacer conjugate in the present tense?
- Hago, haces, hace, hacemos, hacéis, hacen. Only the yo form (hago) is irregular; other forms are regular -er endings.
- What's the preterite of hacer?
- Hice, hiciste, hizo, hicimos, hicisteis, hicieron. The stem is the irregular hic-, with hizo using z instead of c for spelling reasons. None of the forms carry written accents.
- What's the past participle of hacer?
- Hecho (irregular). Used in compound tenses: he hecho (I have done), había hecho (I had done). Same word powers expressions like un hecho (a fact) and de hecho (in fact).
- How can I get better at conjugating hacer?
- The fastest way is exposure to native speakers using hacer across its many uses, actions, weather, time, idioms. Parrot delivers daily videos featuring hago, hice, hace, hecho in real contexts, so the irregular forms become automatic.