Hacer Conjugation: Hago, Hice, Hacía and Every Tense (Chart)

Hacer means "to do" or "to make," and it's irregular in almost every tense. The forms to memorize are hago (I do), hice and hizo (I did, he did), the future stem har- (haré, I will do) and the past participle hecho. The imperfect (hacía) is the one tense that stays completely regular.

Hacer Conjugation Chart

Indicative: present, preterite and imperfect

Future, conditional and present perfect

Subjunctive

Commands (imperative)

Gerund: haciendo (estoy haciendo) · Past participle: hecho (he hecho)

What Makes Hacer Irregular

Hacer breaks the rules in four places, and each one is a pattern you'll reuse with other verbs:

• Yo form ends in -go: hago. Poner (pongo), salir (salgo) and traer (traigo) do the same.
• Preterite stem hic-: hice, hiciste, hicimos, hicieron. The third-person singular is spelled hizo, with a z, because "hico" would be pronounced with a hard k sound.
• Shortened future and conditional stem: haré, harás and haría, harías, never "haceré."
• Irregular participle: hecho, so the present perfect is he hecho, has hecho. The tú command is the one-syllable haz.

Compounds such as deshacer (to undo), rehacer (to redo) and satisfacer (to satisfy) follow exactly the same pattern: deshice, satisfizo, rehecho.

How to Use Hacer

Hacer covers both English "do" and "make," so hacer la tarea is "to do homework" and hacer una tarta is "to make a cake." Beyond that, it has two jobs English speakers don't expect:

• Weather: Spanish uses hacer where English uses "to be." Hace frío means "it's cold," hace calor "it's hot," hace sol "it's sunny," hace buen tiempo "the weather is nice." Always use the third-person singular hace (or hacía, hizo, hará).
• Time: hace + time period means "ago." Llegué hace dos horas means "I arrived two hours ago." With the present tense, it means "for": Hace tres años que vivo aquí means "I've lived here for three years."

Common Expressions With Hacer

Hacer in Example Sentences

• ¿Qué haces este fin de semana? (What are you doing this weekend?)
• Ayer hice una paella para mis amigos. (Yesterday I made a paella for my friends.)
• De niño, hacía deporte todos los días. (As a kid, I did sports every day.)
• Mañana hará mucho calor. (It will be very hot tomorrow.)
• ¿Qué harías con un millón de dólares? (What would you do with a million dollars?)
• Quiero que hagas los deberes antes de cenar. (I want you to do your homework before dinner.)

Common Mistakes With Hacer

• "Hició" instead of hizo. The spelling change from c to z only affects this one form, which is why it's easy to forget.
• "Hacido" instead of hecho. Hacer has an irregular participle: he hecho, not "he hacido."
• Translating "make a decision" word for word. Spanish says tomar una decisión, not "hacer una decisión."
• Using ser or estar for weather. "Está frío" describes an object that's cold (the soup, the room). For the weather, say hace frío.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is hacer an irregular verb?

Yes. Hacer is irregular in the present yo form (hago), the preterite (hice, hizo), the future and conditional (haré, haría), the present subjunctive (haga), the tú command (haz) and the past participle (hecho). Only the imperfect is fully regular.

What is the preterite of hacer?

The preterite of hacer is hice, hiciste, hizo, hicimos, hicisteis, hicieron. None of these forms carry a written accent.

What's the difference between hizo and hacía?

Hizo is preterite and describes a completed action (Hizo la cena: he made dinner). Hacía is imperfect and describes a habit or background (Hacía la cena todos los días: he used to make dinner every day).

How do you say "it's cold" in Spanish?

For the weather, say hace frío. For a person feeling cold, say tengo frío (literally "I have cold"). For an object that's cold to the touch, say está frío.

Keep Practicing

The quiz below mixes pronouns and tenses from the chart above. For more practice, these guides pair well with hacer:

• Decir Conjugation: Digo, Dije, Dicho and Every Tense (Chart)
• Traer Conjugation: Traigo, Traje, Trajeron and Every Tense (Chart)
• Imperfect Or Preterite A Guide to Spanish Past Tenses
• Spanish Subjunctive Made Simple: A Complete Guide