How does "Hace días que Laura no viene a visitarnos." fit the pattern?

Question

This was the quiz answer.  I would have chosen "Laura no viene a vistarnos desde hace días." but it wasn't an option.

E T · Answer

The problem is in the lesson, not in the quiz question. The lesson doesn't explain the "Hace ... que" structure, which is a common way of expressing this. It's in beta—hopefully they'll improve it!

Gail Gislason · Answer

Thanks.  Will you let me know when the "Hace ... que" structure is added?  I find "desde hace" and all its permutations challenging, since they don't match what I would say in English.

Alan Kauffman · Answer

I find it helpful to interpret, for example, "desde hace 5 meses" as meaning "since 5 months ago".  Desde = since, and hace = ago, in this context.  So "for 5 months" equates to "since 5 months ago", which is literally true.
But, "since March" has to be "desde marzo".  "desde hace marzo" makes no sense because it would mean "since March ago"!!