Questions & Answers about Llevo dos semanas estudiando español con mi tutora.
Why is llevo used here? I thought llevar meant to carry or to take.
Yes, llevar often means to carry, to wear, or to take, but in this pattern it has a different use.
In llevar + period of time + gerund, it means:
to have been doing something for a certain amount of time
So:
Llevo dos semanas estudiando...
= I have been studying... for two weeks
This is a very common Spanish structure.
More examples:
- Llevo tres horas esperando. = I’ve been waiting for three hours.
- Llevamos años viviendo aquí. = We’ve been living here for years.
Why is it llevo dos semanas estudiando and not something with a perfect tense, like he estudiado?
Because Spanish often uses llevar + time + gerund where English uses the present perfect continuous.
English: I have been studying Spanish for two weeks.
Spanish: Llevo dos semanas estudiando español.
If you say he estudiado español, that usually means I have studied Spanish, which focuses more on the fact that the action happened, not on the ongoing duration up to now.
So:
- Llevo dos semanas estudiando español = the activity started two weeks ago and is still continuing now.
- He estudiado español = I have studied Spanish at some point / I’ve done some Spanish study.