The big idea
English says "I have lived here for two years." Portuguese says it with the PRESENT tense plus a time marker: Moro aqui há dois anos or Faz dois anos que moro aqui — literally "it makes two years that I live here." Both are everyday Brazilian; faz…que is the more spoken one.
Pattern 1 — still happening (use PRESENT tense!)
| Moro no Brasil há três anos. | I've lived in Brazil for three years (and still do) |
| Faz duas horas que espero. | I've been waiting for two hours |
| Faz tempo que a gente não se vê! | Long time no see! (lit. it makes time that we don't see each other) |
Pattern 2 — "ago" (finished past)
| Cheguei há dois meses. | I arrived two months ago |
| Ela saiu faz dez minutos. | she left ten minutes ago |
| A gente se conheceu faz muito tempo. | we met a long time ago |
Exceptions & traps
1 · faz/há NEVER go plural: Faz dois anos — never "fazem dois anos". Há dez minutos — never "hão". This is a mistake even Brazilians make; the exam board doesn't.
2 · há vs a: há dois anos (time — from haver) vs daqui a dois anos (two years FROM NOW). Past → há, future → a.
3 · desde marks the STARTING POINT instead of the duration: Moro aqui desde 2023 / desde janeiro. (since 2023 / since January)
4 · Questions: Há quanto tempo você mora aqui? / Faz quanto tempo? = how long…?
Practise this chapter
10 pool questions plus generated ones — 20 fresh practice questions, reshuffled every visit, inside the grammar library.
Practise Time with FAZ and HÁ — 20 questions →This chapter is taught in Lição 25 of the course (level B1). Rumo is a complete Brazilian Portuguese course, A1 to B2; level A1 is free.