Breakdown of La orquesta lleva una hora ensayando sin que el público haga ruido.
la hora
the hour
hacer
to make
el ruido
the noise
ensayar
to rehearse
el público
the audience
la orquesta
the orchestra
llevar
to have been (doing)
una
one
sin que
without
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Questions & Answers about La orquesta lleva una hora ensayando sin que el público haga ruido.
What does the structure in lleva una hora ensayando mean?
It’s the pattern llevar + period of time + gerund and it means “to have been doing something for [time] (and the action is still ongoing).” Here, it says the orchestra has been rehearsing for an hour and is still rehearsing.
- Pattern: llevar + tiempo + gerundio
- Examples: Llevo dos años estudiando español. / ¿Cuánto tiempo llevan viviendo aquí?
Can I say Ha estado ensayando durante una hora instead?
Grammatically yes, and many people will say it. Nuance:
- Lleva una hora ensayando strongly implies the action is still in progress now.
- Ha estado ensayando durante una hora can be interpreted as recent activity that may be ongoing or may have just stopped; in much of Latin America, speakers prefer the llevar + gerund or hacer/desde hace + presente patterns for ongoing actions.
- If you add a preposition, durante is safer than por with durations in formal/neutral Spanish, though por una hora is common in parts of Latin America.
Why is it haga (subjunctive) after sin que?
Because sin que introduces a clause describing a non-occurring or hypothetical action. That triggers the subjunctive when the subject changes.
- Rule: sin que + subjunctive (with a different subject).
- Sequence of tenses: present main clause → present subjunctive (haga); past main clause → imperfect subjunctive (hiciera/hiciese), e.g., La orquesta llevaba una hora ensayando sin que el público hiciera ruido.
When do I use sin + infinitive instead of sin que + subjunctive?
Use sin + infinitive when the subject is the same in both actions.
- Same subject: Salí sin comer. (I didn’t eat.)
- Different subject: Salí sin que ella me viera. (She didn’t see me.) In our sentence, the orchestra is rehearsing but it’s the audience that (doesn’t) make(s) noise, so we need sin que.
Why not sin que el público hace/hacen ruido?
- Hace/hacen are indicative; sin que requires the subjunctive because the action is non-real/negated in this context.
- Agreement: el público is singular, so it would be hace, not hacen—but with sin que you must use haga.
Is el público singular or plural for verb agreement?
It’s a collective noun and takes singular agreement: el público hace/haga. If you want plural, use a plural noun like los espectadores (no) hacen/hagan.
Why is it La orquesta lleva and not llevan?
La orquesta is also a collective noun; standard Spanish uses singular agreement: La orquesta lleva… While some speakers occasionally use plural with collectives to emphasize the members, the singular is the norm.
Can I say lleva ensayando una hora instead of lleva una hora ensayando?
Yes. Both lleva una hora ensayando and lleva ensayando una hora are common and correct. The difference is minor and stylistic; many speakers place the time span right after llevar.
What are other common ways to express the same duration idea?
- La orquesta ensaya desde hace una hora.
- Hace una hora que la orquesta ensaya.
- With a slightly different nuance (amount of rehearsal): La orquesta lleva una hora de ensayo.
Is estar + gerundio + desde hace okay, e.g., La orquesta está ensayando desde hace una hora?
Yes, that’s idiomatic and common to stress that the activity is in progress and started an hour ago. It’s an alternative to llevar + gerundio or desde hace + presente without changing the meaning.
Should I use por or durante for “for an hour”?
- Neutral/formal: durante una hora, or often no preposition at all (e.g., ensayó una hora).
- Por una hora is common in parts of Latin America in everyday speech, but some style guides prefer durante or the bare time expression.
Why hacer ruido? Could I say ruidos?
Hacer ruido is the idiomatic way to say “make noise.” Ruido is typically uncountable in this sense. Plural ruidos is used when you mean distinct noises (e.g., Oí ruidos extraños). You could also hear variants like guardar/mantener silencio; in parts of Latin America, hacer silencio is also common.
Should I use ensayar or practicar for musicians?
- Ensayar = rehearse (run through pieces, often as a group; also for theater).
- Practicar = practice (work on skills/exercises, often individually). For an orchestra, ensayar is the natural verb.
How do I pronounce key words in Latin America?
- lleva: usually with a “y” sound (yeísmo): [YEH-va]. In Rioplatense (Argentina/Uruguay), the “ll” can sound like “zh/sh.”
- haga: the h is silent; g before a is hard: [AH-ga].
- ruido: tap the single r; cluster rui is like [RWEE-do].
Does sin que mean “so that … not,” like purpose?
No. Sin que describes a circumstance that does not occur (“without the audience making noise”). Purpose is expressed with para que plus subjunctive: Ensayan para que el público no haga ruido (“so that the audience doesn’t make noise”), which states intent rather than describing the current condition.
Can I say El público lleva una hora sin hacer ruido?
Yes. That uses another handy pattern: llevar + período + sin + infinitivo to mean “have not done something for [time].” It works perfectly when the subject of both parts is the same (here, the audience).