This article discusses the main ways of saying someone has been doing something in Spanish, namely using desde hace (or hace) and the alternative of using the verb llevar.
This article discusses each in turn.
When Spanish uses the present tense (even if English uses the past)
Unlike English, the Spanish language uses the present tense when talking about an action that started in the past, but which is still continuing.
Common situations where you need to use the present tense in Spanish where you would use the past in English are:
• Where you want to ask or say how long someone has been studying or learning something.
• Where someone asks or says how long someone has been living somewhere.
• Where you want to ask or to say how long someone has been working somewhere or for someone.
• Where you want to ask or say how long someone has been doing a hobby.
• Where you want to ask or say how long someone has been in a relationship.
• Where you want to ask or say how long someone has known someone else.
In all these situations:
• The action in question started in the past; and
• The action is still at present.
In this scenario, the present tense must be used in Spanish.
By contrast, actions when talking about actions which started and finished in the past these would be expressed in the appropriate past tense in Spanish.
Compare the following sentences:
- Sentence one: "He has been living in Spain."
- The present tense should be used in Spanish to express this sentence. The “living in Spain” is an ongoing action that continues in the present tense, therefore in Spanish should be expressed in the present tense.
- Sentence two: "She lived in Spain".
- This sentence implies that the person no longer lives in Spain (i.e. at present lives elsewhere). The action of “living in Spain” is not ongoing and not happening in the present tense. It presumably finished at some point in the past and therefore by its nature is not continuing now. The sentence would therefore be expressed in the appropriate past tense in Spanish.
- The present tense would not be appropriate for sentence two, as that would incorrectly imply that the action of “living in Spain” was still ongoing.
- Sentence three: "She moved to Spain"
- The action of “moving to Spain” happened in the past and is not continuing, therefore the appropriate Spanish past tense should be used to express this sentence. In short, the action of “moving to Spain” happened at some point in the past and is not happening at present (i.e. the person previously completed the action of moving).
- Sentence four: "She started working at the company four years ago".
- The action of "starting working" was completed in the past, therefore the action would be in the past tense. (It would be irrelevant if the person still works there, because the verb is focused on the "starting" element),
- Sentence five: "She has been working there for five years".
- By contrast to the previous example which was focused on the action "starting", here the emphasis is on the "working element, which is still continuing. This sentence would therefore be expressed in the present tense in Spanish.
Hopefully the examples above help you to understand the difference between:
- an action which was finished in the past, which would be expressed in the appropriate Spanish past tense, and
- an action which started in the past, but which is still continuing*. This would be expressed in the present tense in Spanish*.
Now that we have looked at the theory behind when to use the present tense, let´s now look at how to do this in Spanish.
*Note: This article does not deal with sentences where someone says that they have not done something for a period of time. This situation is different, but is not discussed here.
¿Desde cuándo (+ present tense)? and desde hace
To ask how long has been doing someone, use ¿Desde cuándo? “Since when?” plus the present tense, for example:
- ¿Desde cuándo estudias español?
= literally: Since when you study Spanish? (In English this would be translated as How long have you been studying Spanish?)
- ¿Desde cuándo trabajas aquí?
= literally: Since when you work here? (In English we would translate this as How long have you been working here?)
- ¿Desde cuándo eres vegetariano/a?
= literally: Since when you are vegetarian? (In English we would translate this as How long have you been a vegetarian?)
- ¿Desde cuándo eres profesor/a?
= literally: Since when you are teacher? (In English we would translate this as How long have you been a teacher?)
- ¿Desde cuándo vives en Madrid?
= literally: Since when you live in Madrid? (In English we would translate this as How long have you lived in Madrid?)
You could answer using the present tense plus desde hace which translates literally as since it makes, for example:
- Estudio español desde hace tres años.
= literally: I study Spanish since it makes three years. (In English we would translate this as I have been studying Spanish for three years)
- Trabajo aquí desde hace seis meses.
= literally: I work here since it makes six months. (In English we would translate this as I have been working here for six months)
- Soy vegetariano/a desde hace un año.
= literally: I am vegetarian since it makes a year. (In English we would translate this as I have been a vegetarian for a year)
- Soy profesor(a) desde hace tres semanas.
= literally: I am teacher since it makes three weeks. (In English we would translate this as I have been a teacher for three weeks)
- Vivo en Madrid desde hace cuatro meses.
= literally: I live in Madrid since it makes four months. (In English we would translate this as I have been living in Madrid for four months)
Variation using Hace
One possible variation of ¿Desde hace….? (Since when….?) is ¿Hace cuánto tiempo que...? (It makes how much time that….?), for example:
- ¿Hace cuánto tiempo que vives en España?
= How long have you been living in Spain? (asking 1 friend/1 child)
(word by word meaning: It makes how much time that you live in Spain?)
Although the answer could be answered using desde hace (since it makes) (or even llevar discussed below), the answer could also be in the present tense using the format Hace (+ Time) + que (+ Present Tense) (It makes (+ Time) + that (+ Present Tense)), for example:
- Hace dos años que vivo en España.
= I have been living in Spain for two years.
(word by word meaning: It makes two years that I live in Spain)
Some examples of possible usage are as follows:
- ¿Hace cuánto tiempo que estudias español?
= How much time have you been studying Spanish? (asking 1 friend/1 child)
(word by word meaning: It makes how much time that you study Spanish?)
- Hace cinco meses que estudio español.
= I have been studying Spanish for five months.
(word by word meaning: It makes five months that I study Spanish)
- ¿Hace cuánto tiempo que trabaja Juan en Madrid?
= How much time has Juan been working in Madrid? (asking 1 friend/1 child)
(word by word meaning: It makes how much time that (he) works Juan in Madrid?)
- Hace un año que trabaja en Madrid.
= He has been working in Madrid for a year.
(word by word meaning: It makes a year that he works in Madrid).
Using 'llevar' to say someone has been doing something
An alternative to the above structures is using llevar to express how long someone has been doing something.
Llevar translates normally means to carry or to wear, but here there is a completely different meaning. In this context it is used to say someone has been doing something.
In Spanish, this is formed over several stages:
Stage 1: You use the present tense of llevar, which is as follows:
- Llevo…. = I have been….
- Llevas…. = You have been*….
- Lleva…. = It/He/She has been….+ You have been**….
- Llevamos…. = We have been….
- Lleváis…. = You have been***….
- Llevan…. = They have been****….+ You have been****….
* Speaking to one friend/one child
** Speaking to one stranger
*** Speaking to 2(+) friends/2(+) children
**** Speaking to 2(+) strangers
Note: The translations of llevar above are done to aid your understanding.
Stage two: You next say the amount of time the person has been doing the activity (if applicable).
Stage three: You say the present participle form of the verb you want to say you have been doing.
You form the present participle (i.e. the 'ing' word) as follows:
- For ar verbs, remove the ar from the verb and add ando
- For ir and er verbs remove the ir/er and add iendo
For example:
- hablar (= to talk/speak) becomes hablando (= talking)
- comer (= to eat) becomes comiendo (= eating)
- vivir (= to live) becomes viviendo (= living)
Although most verbs are regular and follow the above pattern some common irregular forms of the present participle are as follows:
- leyendo = reading (from leer = to read)
- cayendo = falling (from caer = to fall)
- yendo = going (from ir = to go)
Note: ir verbs which are stem-changing in the present tense have the following patterns as regards the present participle:
- e to ie verbs: The present participle changes the stem from e to i (for example prefiriendo' = 'preferring');
- e to i verbs: The present participle changes the stem from e to i (for example diciendo = saying/telling);
- o to ue verbs: The present participle changes the stem from o to u (for example durmiendo = 'sleeping').
If you are unsure what stem-changing verbs are, maybe ignore this part for now.
Last stage: Put everything together to form a sentence (or question)!
Examples of possible sentences are as follows:
- ¿Cuánto (tiempo) llevas estudiando español? = How much time have you been studying Spanish? (asking 1 friend, etc.)
- (word by word meaning: How much (time) you carry studying Spanish?*)
- Llevo tres años estudiando español. = I have been studying Spanish for three years.
- (word by word meaning: I carry three years studying Spanish*).
- ¿Cuánto (tiempo) llevamos viviendo en Londres? = How much time have we been living in London
- (word by word meaning: How much (time) we carry living in London?*)
- Llevamos seis meses viviendo en Londres = We have been living in London for six months.
- (word by word meaning: We carry six months living in London*)
* The word by word meanings have been given just for information.
I hope the article has helped you
Hopefully this article has helped you to understand:
- When to use the present tense in Spanish even when in English the present tense is used; and
- How to express these sentences in Spanish using desde hace (and variations such as hace) as well as llevar.
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