Introduction
Many English speakers learning Brazilian Portuguese get confused by the verbs faz and há when talking about time. Both can translate to ago, it has been, or there is/are in English, but their uses are different. This article explains step by step when to use faz and há, shows clear examples, and gives useful cultural notes so you sound natural in Brazilian Portuguese.
- Basic meanings: what do faz and há mean?
- How to use há to express time
- How to use faz to express time
- Interchangeability: when are há and faz both possible?
- When not to use faz or há
- Using negative and question forms
- Common time expressions that pair with há and faz
- Regional and stylistic differences
- Examples with context and translations
- Verb agreement and grammar notes
- Cultural notes: how Brazilians naturally talk about time
- Common mistakes English speakers make and how to avoid them
- Putting it together: a simple decision guide
- Conclusion
Basic meanings: what do faz and há mean?
Faz comes from the verb fazer. In time expressions, Brazilians use it colloquially like English ago or to say how long something has been happening. It often appears with an expression of duration or a point in the past.
Há is an impersonal form of haver and can mean there is/are, ago, or it has been. In formal or written Portuguese, há is commonly used to indicate time elapsed. It is similar to saying ago or since in English when referring to past time.
Quick contrast
Both verbs can express time elapsed but with slight differences in register and nuance. Use há in more formal contexts or when you want to be precise. Use faz more in spoken Brazilian Portuguese for everyday conversation. That said, both are correct and often interchangeable when talking about how long ago something happened.
How to use há to express time
Há is used with a time expression to indicate an action occurred a certain amount of time ago or has been happening for a certain period.
Structure for past point (ago):
há + period of time
Examples:
Há dois dias cheguei em São Paulo.
Há cinco anos terminei a faculdade.
Structure for duration (how long something has been happening):
há + period of time + que + present tense (less common in speech) or simply using present tense with context
Examples:
Há três anos que moro no Rio de Janeiro.
Há muito tempo que não nos vemos.
Usage notes
Há is often used in written language, news, formal speech, and when you want a neutral tone. When translating into English, há frequently corresponds to ago or it has been.
How to use faz to express time
Faz is the third person singular of fazer and is commonly used in spoken Brazilian Portuguese to express how long ago something happened or how long something has been happening.
Structure for past point (ago):
faz + period of time + que + past tense OR simply faz + period of time
Examples:
Faz dois dias que cheguei em São Paulo.
Faz cinco anos que terminei a faculdade.
Structure for duration:
faz + period of time + que + present tense
Examples:
Faz três anos que moro no Rio de Janeiro.
Faz muito tempo que não nos vemos.
Usage notes
Faz sounds natural and informal. In speech you will hear it very frequently, especially in Brazil. It behaves similarly to há when referring to elapsed time, but it uses the verb fazer instead of haver.
Interchangeability: when are há and faz both possible?
In many contexts both há and faz can be used without changing the meaning much. The choice often depends on tone, region, and register rather than strict grammar rules.
Compare these pairs:
Há duas semanas não vou ao cinema.
Faz duas semanas que não vou ao cinema.
Há três anos moro aqui.
Faz três anos que moro aqui.
In both pairs, the meaning is essentially the same: I have not been to the cinema for two weeks, I have been living here for three years. The first sentence with há might sound a bit more formal or neutral; the second with faz is more conversational.
When not to use faz or há
Do not use faz or há to indicate future time. For future reference, use time expressions without these verbs or use appropriate future tense constructions.
Incorrect:
Faz dois dias vou viajar amanhã. (wrong)
Correct alternatives:
Daqui a dois dias vou viajar amanhã.
Vou viajar em dois dias.
Do not use há or faz with precise dates when you prefer a different structure. For example, to say on March 5th use em 5 de março or no dia 5 de março rather than using há or faz.
Using negative and question forms
Both verbs can be used in negatives and questions when referring to elapsed time.
Negative examples:
Não nos vemos há muito tempo.
Não nos vemos faz muito tempo.
Question examples:
Há quanto tempo você estuda português?
Faz quanto tempo que você estuda português?
Note that the question with há is more concise and common in formal contexts, while the question with faz is longer and more conversational. Many native speakers prefer Há quanto tempo for questions because it is compact.
Common time expressions that pair with há and faz
Short time units: minuto, hora, dia, semana, mês, ano.
Examples:
Há cinco minutos cheguei.
Faz cinco minutos que cheguei.
Longer or vague durations: muito tempo, pouco tempo, muito, pouco.
Examples:
Há muito tempo que não volto ali.
Faz muito tempo que não volto ali.
Point-in-time expressions (specific past events): ontem, anteontem, semana passada, no ano passado. Use há or faz with these to emphasize elapsed time from the present moment.
Examples:
Há uma semana foi o festival.
Faz uma semana que foi o festival.
Regional and stylistic differences
In Brazil, faz is very common in everyday conversations. People say Faz dois anos that sounds natural on the street, in cafés, or with friends. In Portugal, you might hear há more often, and European Portuguese frequently uses haver in contexts where Brazilians prefer fazer.
In formal writing, academic text, news reports, and official documents, prefer há. In spoken, casual contexts, prefer faz. But both forms are understood everywhere in Brazilian Portuguese.
Examples with context and translations
Example 1 — simple ago:
Faz três dias choveu muito.
Three days ago it rained a lot. (literal sense)
Example 2 — duration with present:
Há cinco meses que trabalho nesta empresa.
I have been working at this company for five months.
Example 3 — negative:
Não falo com ele há tempos.
I have not spoken to him for a long time.
Example 4 — question:
Há quanto tempo você mora aqui?
How long have you lived here?
Example 5 — with specific past event:
Faz uma semana que terminou o projeto.
It has been one week since the project ended.
Verb agreement and grammar notes
Both há and faz are impersonal in these time expressions, so they remain in the third person singular regardless of the time unit that follows. You will not conjugate them to agree with the noun that indicates the period of time.
Correct:
Há dois anos que estudo português.
Faz dois anos que estudo português.
Incorrect (do not do this):
Hão dois anos que estudo português. (wrong)
Fazem dois anos que estudo português. (wrong)
Cultural notes: how Brazilians naturally talk about time
Brazilians often use colloquial shortcuts and drop words in spoken language. You may hear people simply say Faz tempo or Há quanto tempo to greet someone after a while. In casual speech, Brazilians use contractions and expressions like há muito or faz muito sem especificar exact duration.
Examples of conversational uses:
Faz tempo que eu não te vejo!
Há muito tempo que não te vejo!
When trying to sound natural, listen to natives and choose faz for relaxed conversation and há for clearer, slightly more formal statements.
Common mistakes English speakers make and how to avoid them
Mistake 1: Using English word order or inserting ago after the verb. In Portuguese the time expression normally comes after há or faz, not at the end in a way that mirrors English sentence flow.
Wrong: Eu cheguei ago dois dias.
Right: Cheguei há dois dias. / Faz dois dias que cheguei.
Mistake 2: Trying to pluralize há or faz. Remember these verbs in impersonal time expressions stay in third person singular.
Mistake 3: Using them for future time. Use daqui a or em to talk about something happening in the future.
Wrong: Faz duas semanas vou sair de férias. (wrong)
Right: Daqui a duas semanas vou sair de férias. / Vou sair de férias em duas semanas.
Putting it together: a simple decision guide
If you want a quick rule of thumb, use the following:
– For spoken, informal situations, choose faz. It sounds natural and typical in Brazil.
– For formal writing, news, or when you want a neutral tone, choose há.
– Both can express ago or it has been; they are often interchangeable when talking about past time.
Conclusion
Understanding the difference between faz and há is mostly about register and context. Both express elapsed time, but há is more formal and common in written Portuguese, while faz is the conversational favorite in Brazil. Use the structures and examples in this article to recognize, practice, and sound more natural when talking about time in Brazilian Portuguese.
