The 'Llevar + Gerund' Construction

Spanish: La perifrasis 'Llevar + gerundio'

Level: B2 Upper-Intermediate

Category: constructions

Explanation

The construction 'llevar + gerund' expresses the duration of an action that began in the past and continues into the present. It is one of the most natural ways in Spanish to indicate how long something has been happening. For example, 'Llevo dos horas esperando' means that I started waiting two hours ago and I am still waiting now. The basic structure is: 'llevar' (conjugated) + a time expression + gerund. The verb 'llevar' carries all the temporal and person information, while the main verb always appears in the gerund form (ending in -ando / -iendo). It is important to remember that this construction emphasizes continuity: the action has not finished. This periphrasis is often equivalent to constructions with 'hacer' ('Hace dos horas que espero') or to the English present perfect continuous ('I have been waiting for two hours'). However, 'llevar + gerund' is more colloquial and very frequent in spoken Spanish in both Spain and Latin America. It can also be used in the past with 'llevaba + gerund' to describe an action that had been going on up to a certain point in the past: 'Llevaba anos trabajando alli cuando lo despidieron' (He had been working there for years when they fired him). To express the negation or absence of an action, 'llevar + sin + infinitive' is used: 'Llevo tres dias sin dormir' (I have not slept for three days).

Examples

• Llevo veinte minutos esperando mi cafe. - I have been waiting twenty minutes for my coffee.
• Llevamos media hora haciendo cola para entrar al museo. - We have been standing in line for half an hour to enter the museum.
• El senor lleva diez minutos buscando su habitacion. - The gentleman has been looking for his room for ten minutes.
• Llevo dos dias sin dormir bien por el ruido. - I have not been sleeping well for two days because of the noise.
• Llevan una hora regateando el precio en el mercado. - They have been haggling over the price at the market for an hour.