hacía

Hacía is a Spanish verb form from hacer, used as the imperfect tense in the singular first and third persons. In this sense, yo hacía means “I was doing” or “I used to do,” and él/ella/usted hacía means “he/she/you (formal) were doing” or “used to do.” The second-person singular form is hacías, not hacías. The imperfect conveys actions without focusing on their start or end, often describing habitual actions, ongoing states, or background context in the past.

Common uses include describing past habits (lo que solía hacerse), ongoing past actions (lo que ocurría en un momento concreto), and weather or setting in the past (hacía calor, hacía frío). It can also provide background information for a narrative, as in actions that were in progress when another event occurred.

Distinctions and spelling notes: hacía carries an acute accent on the i to indicate the imperfect tense. The word hacia, without an accent on the i, is a separate word meaning toward or in the direction of. Distinguishing between hacía and hacia is a frequent source of confusion for learners.

Conjugation snapshot (presented for reference): yo hacía; tú hacías; él/ella/usted hacía; nosotros hacíamos; vosotros hacíais; ellos hacían. The form hacía is specifically the 1st person singular and the 3rd person singular imperfect; the 2nd person singular is hacías.

See also: hacia (preposition of direction), hacer (verb).