Quick answer
Há and faz can both introduce a period counted back from now.
A reliable test is to identify the job of the word before translating from English.
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What each word does
há
ago or there is
Use há for elapsed time with the impersonal verb haver.
faz
ago
Use faz for elapsed time with the impersonal verb fazer.
How to choose
- há: Choose há if the sentence points to elapsed time with the impersonal verb haver.
- faz: Choose faz if the sentence points to elapsed time with the impersonal verb fazer.
Examples
Cheguei há duas horas.
I arrived two hours ago.
Faz dois anos que moro aqui.
I have lived here for two years.
Common trap
In elapsed-time expressions, both verbs stay singular: há dois anos and faz dois anos, never fazem dois anos.
Practice it in context
Pick one sentence from your real life and write it twice: once with há, then once with faz. If both versions feel possible, name the meaning shift.
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