hacer falta and faltar

[rodney]

Puede alguien explicame la difirencia hacer falta and faltar? Y unos ejemplos, porfa.

[Joseph]

I'll give it a shot:

When we use the compound "hacer falta", we generally mean one of two things: to be unprepared when the time comes to do something, or to be necessary for some reason.

ejemplo: "no te procupes, hermano, no te hago falta, te recojeré tan pronto que me llames" (don't worry, brother, I won't let you down, I'll pick you up as soon as you call me).

ejemplo: "no hace falta que vengas, puedes quedarte allí" (it's not necessary for you to come, you can stay put over there).

With the verb "faltar", we are dealing with "intransative" meanings. Let's recall that by "intransitive" we mean a verb that doesnt have a direct object. "Faltar" means "to be missing", "for there not to be enough". There are a number of different ways to translate this idea, depending on the context.

ejemplo: ¿quién falta? (who's missing?)
ejemplo: ¿a quién le falta torta? (who stills needs cake?... i.e. how hasn't been served yet?)
ejemplo: el regalo me sorpendió tanto que me faltaban palabras para agradecer tu generosidad (the gift surprised me so much that I was at a lack for words to thank you for your generosity)

[rodney]

I forgot all about this, thanks for the answer!

[hpwolfe]

Perhaps the meaning changes a bit from country to country, but here in Costa Rica, my Spanish teacher says that 'hacer falta' often means to miss somebody or something equal to the expression, 'te extraño.' Please don't lose all your money in a bar bet over this, but you might want to check it out. Though I can't site the reference source, I did copy from the internet > Hacer falta--to miss, to be necessary, to be in need of. Example: Le hace falta su novio. 'She misses her boyfriend.'<

Simply 'falta,' on the other hand means to lack, be missing. Me falta energía.

[jpv206]

Hi hpwolfe, thanks for picking up this conversation!

My sense is this:

faltar refers to an absence... Le falta sal (It's lacking salt, it's missing salt)
hacer falta refers to a need... Le hace falta sal (It needs salt, there's not enough)

In this context le falta sal can mean there is a total absence of salt, they totally forgot to add salt in the cooking process. Maybe that's good if you're hypertensive.

In turn, le hace falta sal means it needs salt. Maybe there was salt added, but it needs more... it wasn't enough for your taste.

I always think of hacer falta when I want to make a recipe, but I check the cupboard and there's not enough.

Reik has a song "Vuelve," and the line is "Vuelve, sabes que tu me haces falta...." This corroborates your Costa Rican teacher... You might translate this as "come back, you know that I need you" or "you know that I miss you."

[rodney]

Gracias JP,

Ahora me quedo muy claro!