Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Mi amiga lleva trabajando toda la mañana y necesita una pausa. - My friend has been working all morning and needs a break.

Literally, lleva trabajando comes from llevar + gerund and means something like “she carries working” or “she goes along working.” In real, natural English it corresponds to:

“She has been working…”

In Spanish, llevar + gerundio is a very common way to express how long something has been happening up to now. In this sentence:

Mi amiga lleva trabajando… ≈ My friend has been working…

The idea is: she started working some time ago, and that action continues up to the present.

How is llevar + gerund different from just using estar + gerund, like está trabajando?

Está trabajando = She is working (right now).
It just describes what is happening at this moment.
Lleva trabajando (toda la mañana) = She has been working (all morning).
It adds the idea of duration: the action started earlier and has continued up to now.

So:

Mi amiga está trabajando = She’s working (currently).
Mi amiga lleva trabajando toda la mañana = She has been working all morning (emphasizes how long).

Can I say Mi amiga ha estado trabajando toda la mañana instead? Is there any difference?

Yes, you can say:

Mi amiga ha estado trabajando toda la mañana.

This also means “My friend has been working all morning.”

Difference in nuance:

Lleva trabajando toda la mañana
– Very common in everyday speech.
– Naturally highlights duration and a sense of “non‑stop so far.”
Ha estado trabajando toda la mañana
– Grammatically fine and also common.
– A bit more neutral; it simply states that her activity during the morning has been working.

In many contexts, they are interchangeable, and which one is chosen is mostly style or habit. In Latin America, both forms are understood and used.

Why is it trabajando and not trabajar after lleva?

Because the structure is specifically:

llevar + gerundio (the -ando / -iendo form)

not

llevar + infinitivo

So you say:

Lleva trabajando toda la mañana. ✅
Lleva trabajar toda la mañana. ❌ (incorrect)

Other common examples of this pattern:

Llevamos esperando una hora. = We’ve been waiting for an hour.
Llevan viviendo aquí cinco años. = They’ve been living here for five years.

In all of them, llevar is followed by a gerund, not by an infinitive.

Could I say Lleva toda la mañana trabajando instead? Is it the same?

Yes, you can. Both are correct:

Lleva trabajando toda la mañana.
Lleva toda la mañana trabajando.

They mean essentially the same: “She has been working all morning.”

Slight nuance in emphasis:

Lleva trabajando toda la mañana – the focus starts with the action trabajando.
Lleva toda la mañana trabajando – the focus starts with the time period toda la mañana.

In everyday conversation, they are used very freely and both sound natural.

Why is it toda la mañana and not todo la mañana?

Because mañana (when it means morning) is a feminine noun in Spanish:

la mañana = the morning

So the adjective todo/toda must agree with the gender:

todo el día (día = masculine)
toda la mañana (mañana = feminine)
toda la tarde (tarde = feminine)

That’s why it must be:

toda la mañana ✅
not
todo la mañana ❌

Is there any confusion with mañana meaning “tomorrow” here?

In this sentence, mañana clearly means “morning,” not “tomorrow.” Context and grammar tell you:

As “morning” → usually with an article: la mañana, una mañana, esta mañana.
As “tomorrow” → used as an adverb, without an article: mañana voy, nos vemos mañana.

Here we see toda la mañana (with la), so it’s clearly:

all morning, not all tomorrow.

Why is it una pausa? Could I also say un descanso or necesita descansar?

All of these are possible, with slightly different nuances:

necesita una pausa
– Literally “she needs a pause/break.”
– Emphasizes a short interruption in what she’s doing (like a coffee break).
necesita un descanso
– Literally “she needs a rest.”
– Often feels like a bit more substantial rest, not just a tiny pause.
necesita descansar
– Literally “she needs to rest.”
– Focus is on the action of resting, not on “a break” as a noun.

In context:

Mi amiga lleva trabajando toda la mañana y necesita una pausa.
= She’s been working all morning and needs a short break.

You could replace una pausa with un descanso or descansar and it would still be natural, just with that small difference in feel.

Why amiga and not amigo? Is it always gendered like that?

Yes, Spanish marks grammatical gender here:

amigo = (male) friend
amiga = (female) friend

So:

Mi amigo lleva trabajando… = My (male) friend has been working…
Mi amiga lleva trabajando… = My (female) friend has been working…

If you know the person is a woman, you use amiga. The verb lleva is the same for él/ella (“he/she”), so:

Mi amigo lleva…
Mi amiga lleva…

both use lleva.

Could I change the word order and say Mi amiga necesita una pausa; lleva trabajando toda la mañana?

Yes, that’s perfectly natural:

Mi amiga lleva trabajando toda la mañana y necesita una pausa.
Mi amiga necesita una pausa; lleva trabajando toda la mañana.

Both are good, idiomatic Spanish. Changing the order just shifts what you mention first:

In the original, you start with the fact that she’s been working a lot and then say she needs a break.
In the modified version, you state the need for a break first, and then give the reason.

Is llevar + gerund only used in the present, or can it be used in other tenses too?

You can use llevar + gerundio in different tenses to express duration up to a certain point in time:

Presente:
- Lleva trabajando toda la mañana.
  = She has been working all morning (up to now).
Imperfecto:
- Llevaba trabajando toda la mañana cuando llegó el jefe.
  = She had been working all morning when the boss arrived.
Futuro: (less common but possible)
- Mañana a las 12, llevará trabajando cuatro horas.
  = Tomorrow at 12, she will have been working for four hours.

So the pattern llevar + time / expression + gerund can be adapted to different time frames, not just the present.