Hazme caso por favor

Welcome to the first in a series of posts I'm going to call All About Verbs.  I'll be discussing the real life use of a montón (a ton) of Spanish verbs.  We'll get things started with hacer, so let's get to it.

Your Spanish book will tell you the verb hacer means to make or to do, but it actually has a lot more uses than you might expect.  Let's take a look at some of the different ways hacer is used.

Let's start with something you may already know.

¿Qué haces?

This question actually has a couple of meanings.

¿Que haces?
What are you doing?

It's also a way of asking someone about what they do for work.

¿Que haces?
What do you do (for a living)?

Let's move on so some uses of hacer you may not know about.

If you want to tell your Spanish friends you're throwing a party at your house, then you'll need hacer.

Hacer fiesta - To throw a party

Voy a hacer una fiesta en mi casa
I'm going to throw a party at my house

Taking a trip?  Then you need probably need to hacer maleta.

Hacer maleta - To pack a suitcase

Tengo que hacer la maleta
I have to pack my suitcase

¿Ya hiciste tus maletas?
Did you pack your bags yet?

Speaking of traveling, if you ever take vacations on a cruise ship, then you hacer crucero.

Dónde y cuándo hacer un crucero
Where and when to take a cruise

Es la tercera vez que hago crucero por las islas griegas
It's the third time I'm going on a cruise to the Greek Islands

And if you're the type who likes to make the bed after you get up, then you like to hacer la cama.

Hago mi cama todo los días
I make the bed everyday

On a diet?  Hacer dieta.

Hago dieta y no bajo de peso
I'm on a diet but I'm not losing weight

You use hacer caso when you need to get someone to listen to you.

Hazme caso
Pay attention to me

Haz caso
Pay attention

No me haces caso
You don't pay attention to me

There's one more I want to tell you about.  They say the best way to learn Spanish is to have a Spanish speaking pareja, a partner.  As in a boyfriend or girlfriend, and if that's the case, then you'll probably need this one:

Kiss me and make love to me.  The complete expression is hacer el amor.

Quiero que me hagas el amor
I want you to make love to me

If you're wondering about the weird conjugation (hagas), don't.  Just memorize it for now.  But if you must know, it's a form of the subjunctive.  If you're a beginner I really suggest you just memorize this phrase for now.  Subjunctive = major headache. You've been warned.

Quiero hacerte el amor
I want to make love to you

Well, that's it for today.  Hacer has a lot more uses and I'll write about those a little later.  But for now, now soak in what you've learned and go forth and speak Spanish.

¡Chao!