If you’ve ever tried to say how long you’ve been doing something in Portuguese — living in Brazil, learning the language, dating someone, or even waiting (forever) for your Brazilian friend to show up 😂 — chances are you’ve hesitated or translated it directly from English. But here’s the thing: Portuguese doesn’t say “I’ve been living here for two years” the same way English does. Instead, we use a little word that might surprise you: há. This post will show you exactly how and when to use it, with real examples and a practice exercise to help it all stick. Let’s take a look!
How It Works in Portuguese
Often, the way we say things in Portuguese is completely different from how we’d say the same thing in English — and that’s definitely the case when talking about how long something has been happening or how long ago something happened.
Take these phrases, for example:
- 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.
As you can see, in Portuguese, we use há (from the verb haver) in the present tense to talk about how long something has been happening, or how long ago it happened.
👉 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).
Real-Life Examples: A Coffee Break Conversation
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? (👀 Notice the main verb “morar” in the simple present)
= How long have you been living here?
Janaína: Moro aqui há dois anos. (👀 Notice the main verb “morar” in the simple present)
= I’ve been living here for two years.
Frank: Eu nasci em Curitiba e me mudei para São Paulo há seis anos. (👀 Notice 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 Há to Talk About Time in Portuguese
Here are more examples to help you recognize and practice this structure in context:
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!
9. 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.
10. Eles me telefonaram há uns três meses.
= They called me about three months ago.
11. 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!
12. Comecei a trabalhar aqui há pouco tempo.
= I started working here not long ago.
13. Eu ensino português há muito tempo.
= I’ve been teaching Portuguese for a long time.
Try It Yourself: 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.
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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