¿Cuál es la mejor forma de aprender?: Conjugation of the verb Hacer
Last week I was talking to a friend that I made in the USA thanks to an exchange program and you can still tell that he is not a native Spanish speaker. This is not necessarily a bad thing, everyone has an accent according to their country of origin, but one of the most noticeable characteristics when a non-native Spanish speaker speaks is: the way they conjugate verbs.
Hacer (to do or to make) is one of the main verbs when you start learning Spanish and from it we can find derivative verbs that behave (conjugate) in a similar way, such as “rehacer” (re = repetition) and “deshacer” (des = reverse meaning). You’ve come to the right place if you’re researching what these conjugations are, how they change, and when to use them. So, come on, let’s conjugate. And, to answer the question in the title, the best way to learn is… ¡Haciendo!
Hacer: team irregular
What does it mean to be in the group of irregulars? Based on logic, irregular = changes. We are going to see them every time we conjugate it, and that is where Hacer loses its regularity.
To combat this irregularity, we will apply the old and reliable method of memorization, in order to have a conversation where you feel confident. Just like riding a bicycle, the most reliable thing to do is to practice, first we read how the theory works and then we start with the practical exercises. The fact that you are not running or moving your legs does not mean that it is not physical exercise, you have to train your tongue to pronounce correctly too!
Verbals of the verb Hacer
The instant thought regarding conjugations is to assume that every time you see a word that is similar to the verb, it can be conjugated, and it doesn’t always happen. When you see a verb that doesn’t behave like a verb, you are seeing a verbal.
First of all, remember that you will need a verb to accompany the verbals in order to use them, and secondly, their three forms are: infinitive, gerund, participle. And how do they work? Like this:
| Verbal | Common use | Example | English | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | hacer (to do, to make) | Non conjugated / Noun | Tengo mil cosas que hacer para mañana. | I have a thousand things to do tomorrow. |
| Gerund | haciendo (doing, making) | Adverb/verbal periphrasis | Yo soy muy bueno haciendo tortas. | I am very good at making cakes |
| Participle | hecho (done, made) | Adjective | Ese juguete fue hecho en China | This toy was made in China |
Hacer Conjugation: Indicative Mood
This mood shows the actions in a direct way, and of all the modes we are going to see, this is the simplest when constructing sentences. In the first table we are going to have the simple indicative tenses, and in the second one the compounds, which are constructed with the verb Haber.
Simple Tenses of the Indicative Mood
| Subject | Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Conditional | Future |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (do, does – make, makes) | (did – made) | (did, made) | (would did – would made) | (will do – will make) | |
| yo | hago | hice | hacía | haría | haré |
| tú | haces | hiciste | hacías | harías | harás |
| él/ella/usted | hace | hizo | hacía | haría | haría |
| nosotros | hacemos | hicimos | hacíamos | haríamos | haremos |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | hacen | hicieron | hacían | harían | harán |
Examples:
Tú siempre haces la tarea más rápido. – You always do your homework faster.
Ross y Rachel hicieron las paces después de todo este tiempo. – Ross and Rachel made peace after all this time.
Compound Tenses of the Indicative Mood
| Subject | Present Perfect | Preterite Perfect | Past Perfect (Pluperfect) | Conditional Perfect | Future Perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (have/has done – have/has made) | (had done – had made) | (had done – had made) | (would have done – would have made) | (will have done – will have made) | |
| yo | he hecho | hube hecho | había hecho | habría hecho | habré hecho |
| tú | has hecho | hubiste hecho | habías hecho | habrías hecho | habrás hecho |
| él/ella/usted | ha hecho | hubo hecho | había hecho | habría hecho | habrá hecho |
| habrá hecho | hemos hecho | hubimos hecho | habíamos hecho | habríamos hecho | habremos hecho |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | han hecho | hubieron hecho | habían hecho | habrían hecho | habrán hecho |
Hacer Conjugation: Subjunctive Mood
Every time you need to express desires or hypotheses, you will need the subjunctive mood. In this mood, you will need all your potential to memorize and do exercises speaking correctly, see this guide as many times as necessary until you feel confident in what you are doing (no pun intended!).
Simple Tenses of the Subjunctive Mood
| Subject | Present | Imperfect | Imperfect 2 | Future |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | haga | hiciera | hiciese | hiciere |
| tú | hagas | hicieras | hicieses | hicieres |
| él/ella/usted | haga | hiciera | hiciese | hiciere |
| nosotros | hagamos | hiciéramos | hiciésemos | hiciéremos |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | hagan | hicieran | hiciesen | hicieren |
Examples:
Ojalá la mamá de Jhonny haga una torta tresleches mañana – I hope Jhonny’s mom makes a tresleches cake tomorrow.
Si yo hiciera mis deberes, podría ir a la fiesta – If I did my homework, I could go to the party.
Compound Tenses of the Subjunctive Mood
| Subject | Present Perfect | Past Perfect (Pluperfect) | Past Perfect 2 (Pluperfect 2) | Future Perfect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | haya hecho | hubiera hecho | hubiese hecho | hubiere hecho |
| tú | hayas hecho | hubieras hecho | hubieses hecho | hubieres hecho |
| él/ella/usted | haya hecho | hubiera hecho | hubiese hecho | hubiere hecho |
| nosotros | hayamos hecho | hubiéramos hecho | hubiésemos hecho | hubiéremos hecho |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | hayan hecho | hubieran hecho | hubiesen hecho | hubieren hecho |
Hacer Conjugation: Imperative Mood
Maybe the word “imperative” sounds familiar, but just in case it doesn’t, this mood is all about commands and orders. The nice part is that there aren’t as many people because the first person is not included, it’s impossible to give commands to yourself (unless you’re doing exercises and tell yourself you can with one more flex and still you refer to yourself as someone else). And we won’t see so many verb tenses either, because orders can only be given in the present tense (think about it, even when talking about a future order, you enunciate it in the present tense). Let’s see!
Imperative Mood’s Conjugations
| Subject | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| (do – make/let’s do – let’s make) | (don’t do – don’t make/let’s not do – let’s not make) | |
| tú | haz | no hagas |
| él/ella/ usted | haga | No haga |
| nosotros | hagamos | no hagamos |
| ustedes | hagan | no hagan |
Examples:
¡No hagan un desastre en la mesa cuando coman! – Don’t make a mess at the table when you eat!
Por favor, haz mi pizza sin jamón – Please make my pizza without ham
Let’s get to practice!
Now let’s go with a couple of exercises for you to train this new knowledge.
1. Nosotros ________ más ejercicio, pero nos lesionamos – We would do more exercise, but we got injured.
2. Yo ________ mi propia ropa – I make my own clothes
3. Si tú hubieses ________ caso no te hubiesen castigado – If you had listened, you would not have been punished.
4. Jessie, ¡tú puedes! Vamos, ________ otra repetición – Jessie, you can do it! Come on, do another rep.
5. No ________ más porque nos quedamos sin materiales – We did not make more because we ran out of materials.
The answers
And we have reached the end, there is nothing left to do (last joke, I promise) but to see the correct answers:
1. haríamos
2. hago
3. hecho
4. haz
5. hicimos
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