hace que

[psuespanol]

Hello, I'm trying to ask, How long have you been a fan?, but I'm not sure of the correct translation. Would it be...

Cuanto tiempo hace que eres un aficianado?

For some reason it just doesnt seem right to me.

Thank you!

 

[aldonzalorenzo]

Hi, welcome to the Forum!
It´d be easier if you give more context. In Spanish exists also the word "fan" as in English, so it depends...

 

[obz]

Diría:

¿Cuánto tiempo hace que has sido hincha/fan?
¿Cuánto tiempo llevas siendo hincha/fan?

 

[psuespanol]

Hi and thank you.

The whole question is, How long have you been a fan of Penn State football?

 

[aldonzalorenzo]

Diría:

¿Cuánto tiempo hace que has sido eres hincha?
¿Cuánto tiempo llevas siendo hincha?

I agree with obz, except for the time of the verb in the 1st sentence.
And you could also say:
¿Desde cuándo eres hincha de ...?

 

[obz]

Cheers aldonzalorenzo!... Does it just sound wrong, or is there a grammatical violation?

 

[psuespanol]

Muchas gracias! But what about aficionado, why wouldnt you use that?

 

[aldonzalorenzo]

Cheers aldonzalorenzo!... Does it just sound wrong, or is there a grammatical violation?

Hard question (for me)! I'm not an expert and I don't know if there's a rule. But if you want to use past tense in your sentence I´d say: “¿Cuánto tiempo hace que te hiciste hincha de…?”

P.S: Listen, correct my English too!

 

[aldonzalorenzo]

Muchas gracias! But what about aficionado, why wouldnt you use that?

“Aficionado” is a generic word for the things one likes. E.g. Pepe es muy aficionado a los deportes, a la montaña, a la lectura. It´s also used when you do something in a non professional way, kind of amateur.
But, when you speak of a certain fan of a sport team, you use the word “hincha”; and when you speak about a group of music, you use “fan”: “es fan de los Beatles”. Don´t ask me why!

 

[TIODEI]

¿Desde hace cuanto eres hincha del Penn State football?

La diferencia entre "hincha" y "aficionado" es muy sutil, como bien te ha explicado aldonzolarenzo. Tampoco suena muy mal la frase si utilizas "aficionado".

 

[inib]

"Hincha" is more for sports and has more of the idea of "supporter", whereas "aficionado" could be used, but could also be understood as an amateur player, rather than just an observer. The most important issue, is that the TENSE (not "time") should be present in Spanish, because the action is still going on. We use the present perfect for this in English, but not in Spanish.
The options I can think of are:
¿ Desde cuándo eres hincha de Penn State?
¿Cuánto tiempo hace que eres hincha de Penn state?
¿Cuánto tiempo llevas siendo hincha de Penn state?.....I think this last example would be understood, but I don't like its style, sin.ce we are talking about ONE ELONGATED/CONTINUOUS action, rather than a repeated one. However in the following example it sounds better: "Cuánto tiempo llevas yendo al gimnasio?"=How long have you been going to the gym? (you go daily but in the meantime you do other things).
I hope my comments have been of help, and not more confusing for you