Llevo media hora esperando el autobús en esta parada.

Spanish often drops subject pronouns when the verb already makes the subject clear. Here, llevo can only mean I carry / I have been, so yo is unnecessary.

You could say Yo llevo media hora esperando el autobús en esta parada, but it usually sounds more natural without yo unless you want emphasis or contrast.

This is a very common Spanish structure:

llevar + time expression + gerund

It means that an action started in the past and is still continuing now.

So:

Llevo media hora esperando = I have been waiting for half an hour

It does not literally translate word for word into natural English, but that is the usual Spanish way to express this idea.

More examples:

• Llevo dos horas estudiando. = I have been studying for two hours.
• Llevamos días buscando piso. = We have been looking for a flat for days.

Because after llevar in this pattern, Spanish uses a gerund:

llevar + time + gerund

So:

• Llevo media hora esperando = correct
• Llevo media hora espero = incorrect

The gerund esperando shows the ongoing action. It works like waiting in English.

Estoy esperando simply means I am waiting. It tells you what is happening now, but it does not say for how long.

Llevo media hora esperando means I have been waiting for half an hour. It adds the duration and implies the waiting is still happening.

So:

• Estoy esperando el autobús. = I am waiting for the bus.
• Llevo media hora esperando el autobús. = I have been waiting for the bus for half an hour.

You could say He estado esperando el autobús media hora, but it is less natural in this context if you want to stress that the action is still continuing now.

Llevo media hora esperando is the most natural way to say I have been waiting for half an hour when you are still waiting.

He estado esperando often sounds more like a completed or more detached statement, depending on context.

For an ongoing situation right now, llevar + time + gerund is usually the best choice.

Because hora is a feminine noun, and medio as an adjective must agree with it:

• media hora
• media botella
• medio día
• medio kilo

So here media means half, and it changes to feminine singular to match hora.

In Spanish, time expressions like this often appear without an article:

• Llevo media hora esperando
• Esperé dos horas
• Trabaja ocho horas al día

You do not need una here.
Media hora by itself naturally means half an hour.

Sometimes una media hora can appear in other contexts, but it often means about half an hour or sounds a bit less exact. In this sentence, media hora is the normal choice.

El autobús usually means a specific bus that the speaker is expecting. In context, it is the bus they are waiting for, so the definite article sounds natural.

• Espero el autobús = I am waiting for the bus
• Espero un autobús = I am waiting for a bus / some bus

In real life, at a bus stop, people often use el autobús because the situation makes the bus identifiable.

Here en means at or in this location.

En esta parada = at this bus stop

Spanish often uses en where English uses at for places:

• en casa = at home
• en la oficina = at the office
• en esta parada = at this stop

Using esta means this, so the speaker is referring to the specific stop where they are standing.

Yes. Spanish word order is more flexible than English, although the original sentence is very natural.

You could also say:

• Llevo media hora esperando en esta parada el autobús.
• En esta parada llevo media hora esperando el autobús.

These are grammatically possible, but Llevo media hora esperando el autobús en esta parada sounds neutral and natural.

In everyday Spanish, speakers usually place information in the order that feels most natural or most important in context.

Yes, that is also correct.

Both are possible:

• Llevo media hora esperando el autobús
• Llevo esperando el autobús media hora

The first version is often slightly more common and clearer for learners because it keeps the time expression right after llevo, which makes the pattern easier to recognise.

Yes. A very common alternative is:

Estoy esperando el autobús desde hace media hora.

This also means I have been waiting for the bus for half an hour.

So you have two very natural options:

• Llevo media hora esperando el autobús.
• Estoy esperando el autobús desde hace media hora.

Both are correct. The llevar + time + gerund structure is especially common and compact.

No. It works with all subjects. You just conjugate llevar normally.

Examples:

• Llevas media hora esperando. = You have been waiting for half an hour.
• Lleva media hora esperando. = He/She has been waiting for half an hour.
• Llevamos media hora esperando. = We have been waiting for half an hour.
• Llevan media hora esperando. = They have been waiting for half an hour.

The rest of the structure stays the same.

In most of Spain today, ll is pronounced the same as y. So llevo usually sounds roughly like ye-bo, with a Spanish y sound.

Also:

• The v in Spanish is not pronounced like a strong English v. It is closer to a soft b/v sound.
• The stress in autobús falls on the last syllable: au-to-BUS.
• The stress in parada falls on the middle syllable: pa-RA-da.

Exact pronunciation varies a little by region, but this is a good standard guide for Spain.