The Spanish verb hacer is very versatile. It means to do or to make and you can find it in many popular expressions or collocations. Understanding its conjugations is important for effective communication in Spanish. So let’s learn how to use this verb in different forms to enhance your Spanish skills.

The Spanish Verb Hacer

As you know, any Spanish verb conjugation has two groups: simple tenses and compound tenses. Simple tenses consist of a single word (the main verb), while compound tenses consist of two words (haber + the past participle of the main verb). So we are going to focus on the simple tenses since you will only need the past participle to create compound ones.

Now let’s see the conjugation of hacer with example sentences.

The Spanish Verb Hacer in Indicative

You will see the verb hacer is a bit irregular in some tenses.

PresentPreteriteImperfectFutureConditional
yo

él
nosotros
vosotros
ellos
hago
haces
hace
hacemos
hacéis
hacen
hice
hiciste
hizo
hicimos
hicisteis
hicieron
hacía
hacías
hacía
hacíamos
hacíais
hacían
haré
harás
hará
haremos
haréis
harán
haría
harías
haría
haríamos
haríais
harían
Indicative

Mis hijos hacen las tareas de la casa porque son responsables.

My children do the housework because they are responsible.

hiciste mis galletas favoritas para el cumpleaños.

You made my favorite cookies for my birthday.

Cuando hacía sol, solíamos ir a la playa.

When it was sunny, we used to go to the beach.

Nosotros haremos un pastel y vosotros haréis el resto, ¿de acuerdo?

We’ll make a cake and you’ll do the rest, ok?

¿Qué haríais vosotras en mi lugar?

What would you do in my place?

The Spanish Verb Hacer in Subjunctive

You will find the same stem changes in the subjunctive conjugations. As you can see, the Imperfect has two forms in subjunctive. You can use any of them since both are correct.

PresentImperfect (1)Imperfect (2)Future
yo

él
nosotros
vosotros
ellos
haga
hagas
haga
hagamos
hagáis
hagan
hiciera
hicieras
hiciera
hiciéramos
hicierais
hicieran
hiciese
hicieses
hiciese
hiciésemos
hicieseis
hiciesen
hiciere
hicieres
hiciere
hiciéremos
hiciereis
hicieren
Subjunctive

Hoy llueve y no creo que podamos ir. Espero que mañana haga mejor tiempo.

It’s raining today and maybe we won’t be able to go. Maybe tomorrow the weather will be better.

El médico le aconsejó que hiciera más ejercicio.

El médico le aconsejó que hiciese más ejercicio.

The doctor advised him to exercise more.

Nowadays the Future subjunctive forms are not very often used. These forms are only seen in administrative or legal documents and in some set phrases.

The Spanish Verb Hacer in Imperative

In Spanish, negative commands are done using the Present subjunctive forms. Simply say no + present subjunctive to form a negative command. Don’t worry if you are still not familiar with the subjunctive mood.

AffirmativeNegative

usted
vosotros, vosotras
ustedes
haz
haga
haced
hagan
no hagas
no haga
no hagáis
no hagan
Imperative

Hagan un esfuerzo, ya casi hemos llegado.

Make an effort, we have almost arrived.

No hagas eso, Alejandro. Te vas a hacer daño.

Don’t do that, Alejandro. You’re going to hurt yourself.

The Spanish Verb Hacer: Non-Finite Forms

The Spanish non-finite forms are the infinitive (infinitivo), the gerund (gerundio) and the past participle (participio), which is used to create the compound verb tenses.

Non-Finite
infinitive
gerund
past participle
hacer
haciendo
hecho
Non-finite verb forms

No hay nada que podamos hacer.

There is nothing we can do.

¿Qué estás haciendo, papá? ¿Estás viendo una película?

What are you doing, Dad? Are you watching a movie?

Mario, son las siete. ¿Todavía no has hecho los deberes?

Mario, it’s seven. Haven’t you done your homework yet?

Exercises

Let’s practice the forms of the Spanish verb hacer.

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

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