How long it has been going on: estar, llevar, acabar de
English separates 'I wait' from 'I have been waiting' with an auxiliary; Spanish builds the same shades from an auxiliary plus one of two forms: the gerund (-ando, -iendo) or the infinitive — and it has turns English lacks, ones that show which stretch the action is on: just started, still going, just finished. For example: “Llevo dos horas esperando en el aeropuerto y no dicen nada” — I have been waiting at the…
How it works
English separates 'I wait' from 'I have been waiting' with an auxiliary; Spanish builds the same shades from an auxiliary plus one of two forms: the gerund (-ando, -iendo) or the infinitive — and it has turns English lacks, ones that show which stretch the action is on: just started, still going, just finished.
Estar + gerund — right now, this minute: estoy esperando el taxi. English has the same shape ('I'm waiting for the taxi'); the Spanish nuance is that the plain present also exists, so espero el taxi (I wait, every day) and estoy esperando (I am standing here waiting this second) are two different pictures. In the past it is estaba esperando — 'I was waiting'.
Llevar + gerund answers 'how long so far': llevo dos horas esperando — 'I have been waiting for two hours'. English needs the perfect progressive for this; Spanish just conjugates llevar. The negative version takes not the gerund but sin with the infinitive: llevo tres días sin dormir — 'I have not slept for three days'. Llevo tres días no durmiendo is not Spanish — and it is the mistake almost everyone makes here.
Acabar de + infinitive — 'to have just': acabo de llegar, acaban de cancelar el vuelo. No past tense is needed — the turn is already about the past, and acabé de llegar would mean 'I finished arriving'. Its partner at the other end is empezar a + infinitive: empezó a llover.
And two turns about continuing and repeating. Seguir + gerund — 'still, as before': sigo trabajando allí; the negation also takes the gerund: sigue sin funcionar — 'it still is not working'. Volver a + infinitive — 'again, one more time': he vuelto a perder las llaves — 'I have lost the keys again'. English says 'again' with an adverb; Spanish most often hides it inside this turn.
Table
| construction | what it shows | example | meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| estar + gerund | right now | estoy conduciendo | I am driving now |
| llevar + gerund | how long so far | llevo una hora conduciendo | I have been driving for an hour |
| llevar + sin + infinitive | how long not | llevo dos días sin fumar | I haven't smoked for two days |
| acabar de + infinitive | just finished | acabo de llegar | I've just arrived |
| empezar a + infinitive | just started | empezó a llover | it started raining |
| seguir + gerund | still going on | sigo esperando | I'm still waiting |
| volver a + infinitive | again | volvió a llamar | he called again |
By example
- Llevo dos horas esperando en el aeropuerto y no dicen nadaI have been waiting at the airport for two hours and nobody says anything
- Acaban de cancelar el vuelo por la nieblaThey have just cancelled the flight because of the fog
- El coche sigue sin arrancar, hay que volver a llamar al tallerThe car still will not start — the garage has to be called again
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
How long it has been going on: how does it work in Spanish?
English separates 'I wait' from 'I have been waiting' with an auxiliary; Spanish builds the same shades from an auxiliary plus one of two forms: the gerund (-ando, -iendo) or the infinitive — and it has turns English lacks, ones that show which stretch the action is on: just started, still going…
What does it look like in an example sentence Spanish?
“Llevo dos horas esperando en el aeropuerto y no dicen nada” — I have been waiting at the airport for two hours and nobody says anything. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.