Word
Estos días andamos haciendo una reforma pequeña en la cocina.
Meaning
These days we’ve been doing a small renovation in the kitchen.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Estos días andamos haciendo una reforma pequeña en la cocina.
pequeño
small
una
a
el día
the day
en
in
Questions & Answers about Estos días andamos haciendo una reforma pequeña en la cocina.
Why does the sentence start with Estos días? Does it mean these days in the same way as English?
Yes, estos días usually means these days / lately / at the moment.
In this sentence, it gives a sense of a temporary current situation, not necessarily something happening right this second. It often suggests:
- around now
- recently
- for the time being
So Estos días andamos haciendo... is like saying:
- These days we’ve been doing...
- Lately we’ve been working on...
It is very natural in everyday Spanish.
Why is it andamos haciendo instead of just hacemos or estamos haciendo?
Andar + gerund is a common structure in Spanish, especially in informal speech. It suggests an action that is:
- ongoing
- spread out over time
- sometimes a bit casual, in progress, or going on these days
So:
- hacemos una reforma = we do / are doing a renovation
(more neutral or simple) - estamos haciendo una reforma = we are doing a renovation
(standard progressive, focused on the action being in progress) - andamos haciendo una reforma = we’ve been doing / we’re busy doing a renovation these days
(more idiomatic, with a sense of current ongoing activity)
In Spain, andar + gerund is very common in conversation.
What exactly does andar + gerund mean here?