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Moro aqui há 2 anos. Befriend the Verb Haver

posted on September 7, 2012

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:    Há quanto tempo você mora aqui?
              = How long have you been living here?

Janaína: Moro aqui há dois anos.
              = I’ve been living here for two years.

Frank:    Eu nasci em Curitiba e me mudei para São Paulo há seis anos.
              = I was born in Curitiba and I moved to São Paulo six years ago.
 

Often times the way we say things in Portuguese is completely different from how we say the same thing in English. This is one of the cases:

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

In Portuguese, we use the verb Haver in the present tense, and always in the singular, to indicate the duration of time. To express an ongoing action, use the main verb in the simple present (Eu moro) or in the present progressive (Estou morando). To indicate a past action, use the verb in the simple past (Eu me mudei).

Let’s see additional examples:

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

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

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

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

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

6. Estou trabalhando no relatório há sete horas sem parar.
    =I’ve been working on this report for seven hours nonstop.

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

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

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

11. Eles me telefonaram há uns três meses.
      = They called me about three months ago.

12. Você sabe há quanto tempo eu estou esperando? Estou esperando há 35 minutos!
      = Do you know how long I have been waiting? I’ve been waiting for 35 minutes!

Also check out our lesson Faz 2 Anos – Use the Verb Fazer with Time to learn how to say the same thing using the verb Fazer and to get my tip on how to avoid a common mistake.

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 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, haven’t they?
Bill:     They are not together anymore. They broke up a couple of weeks ago.

Respostas = Answers

Jonas: Há quanto tempo você estuda português?
Bill:     Eu estudo português há um ano e meio.
Jonas: Há quanto tempo Renato e Juliana estão morando no Rio?
Bill:     Eles estão morando no Rio há três anos.
Jonas: Eles estão namorando há muito tempo, não estão?
Bill:     Eles não estão mais juntos. Eles terminaram há duas semanas.

—————-

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About Luciana Lage

I’m Luciana, founder of Street Smart Brazil. I am so happy to be able to help you in your Portuguese speaking journey! Teaching Portuguese as a foreign language was one of the best things that could have happened in my life. I’ve had the privilege of teaching Portuguese at the University of California, Berkeley and the University of San Francisco. Now I am fully dedicated to the Street Smart Brazil community.

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