Faz 2 anos: Use the Verb Fazer with Time in Portuguese

If you want to say how long something has been happening — or how long ago it happened — Portuguese gives you a few different ways to do that, and they’re quite different from how we say the same thing in English. In another post, I showed you how to use the word há to talk about elapsed time. Today, you’ll learn how to use the verb fazer with time in Portuguese to say the same kinds of things — naturally and correctly.

We’ll look at everyday examples, so you can see exactly how fazer works in this context. I’ll even reuse the same dialogue from the other post to make it easy to compare both structures side by side.

Comparing Haver and Fazer Side by Side

To help you see how the verb fazer works in real life, I’m using the same examples from the other post where we used há to talk about time. This way, you can compare the two structures side by side and really get a feel for how both are used in Portuguese. They’re equally correct — just different ways to say the same thing.

Here are the examples:

1. Moro aqui há dois anos. / Moro aqui faz dois anos. = I’ve been living here for two years.
2. Estou morando aqui há dois anos. / Estou morando aqui faz dois anos. = I’ve been living here for two years.
3. Eu me mudei para São Paulo há seis anos. / Eu me mudei para São Paulo faz seis anos. = I moved to São Paulo six years ago.

👉🏼 Pay attention to the verb tense in the main sentence. In the examples above, we used the simple present (moro aqui há dois anos), the present progressive (estou morando aqui há dois anos), and the simple past (me mudei há seis anos).

👉🏼 Here’s a useful tip to avoid a common mistake!
When you use fazer to talk about elapsed time — like faz dois anos — the verb fazer should always stay in the third person singular. You might hear people say “fazem dois anos”, but that’s incorrect. As a Street Smart Brazil learner, you’ll use it right 😀 It’s always faz, never fazem, no matter how many years you’re talking about.

Two Ways to Use Fazer to Talk About Elapsed Time in Portuguese

Here’s something unique about using fazer to talk about elapsed time: there are two ways to structure your sentence.

1. You can start with the verb fazer, followed by the time expression and a clause with que
2. Or you can flip the order and place the verb fazer at the end. In that case, you don’t need que.

Here are a couple of examples to show you both options in action:

Faz dois anos que moro aqui.
Moro aqui faz dois anos.
= I’ve been living here for two years.

Faz 30 minutos que ele chegou.
Ele chegou faz 30 minutos.
= He arrived 30 minutes ago.

Same Conversation, New Structure with Fazer

Let’s go back to the same coffee break conversation you saw in the post about the verb haver — but this time, we’re using fazer to express elapsed time.

It’s the exact same dialogue, just rewritten with a different structure so you can see how both versions work naturally in context.

Janaína and Frank are chatting during their coffee break:

Frank:    De onde você é?
             = Where are you from?

Janaína: Sou de Natal.
              = I’m from Natal.

Frank:    Faz quanto tempo que você mora aqui? (👀 Notice the main verb “morar” in the simple present)
              = How long have you been living here?

Janaína: Moro aqui faz dois anos. (👀 Notice the “fazer” in the third person singular)
              = I’ve been living here for two years.

Frank:    Eu nasci em Curitiba e me mudei para São Paulo faz seis anos. (👀 Notice the verb fazer in the third person singular and the main verb “mudar” in the simple past)
              = I was born in Curitiba and I moved to São Paulo six years ago.

More Examples: Using Fazer to Talk About Time in Portuguese

Here are additional examples for you:

1. Faz quanto tempo que vocês estão juntos?
    = How long have you been together?

2. Faz mais de dois anos que Teresa estuda inglês.
    = Teresa has been studying English for more than two years.

3. Faz quanto tempo que você conhece Kátia?
    = How long have you known Kátia?

4. Eu conheço Kátia faz muito tempo.
    = I have known Kátia for a long time.

5. Você parece exausta. Faz quanto tempo que você está trabalhando neste relatório?
     = You look exhausted. How long have you been working on this report?

6. Faz sete horas que estou trabalhando sem parar neste relatório.
    =I’ve been working on this report for seven hours nonstop.

7. Faz dois anos que Léo não mora em São Francisco.
    = Léo hasn’t been living in San Francisco for two years.

8. Faz uma semana que não vejo o sol. Que horror!
     = I haven’t seen the sun in a week. How awful!

9. Faz seis meses que comprei este carro e ele já está me dando problemas.
= I bought this car six months ago and it’s already giving me trouble.

10. Faz uns três meses que eles me telefonaram.
      = They called me about three months ago.

11. Você sabe quanto tempo faz que eu estou esperando? Faz 35 minutos que eu estou esperando!
      = Do you know how long I have been waiting? I’ve been waiting for 35 minutes!

12. Comecei a trabalhar aqui faz pouco tempo.
      = I started working here not long ago.

13. Eu ensino português faz muito tempo.
      = I’ve been teaching Portuguese for a long time.

Now it’s your turn! Practice Exercise

Translate the following dialogue to Portuguese. The answers are below.

Jonas: How long have you been studying Portuguese?
Bill: I’ve been studying Portuguese for a year and a half.
Jonas: How long have Renato and Juliana been living in Rio?
Bill: They have been living in Rio for three years.
Jonas: They have been dating for a long time, right?
Bill: They are not together anymore. They broke up a couple of weeks ago.

Answers

Jonas: Faz quanto tempo que você estuda português?
Bill: Eu estudo português faz um ano e meio.
Jonas: Faz quanto tempo que Renato e Juliana estão morando no Rio?
Bill: Faz três anos que eles estão morando no Rio.
Jonas: Faz muito tempo que eles namoram, não é?
Bill: Eles não estão mais juntos. Faz duas semanas que eles terminaram.