Delay and duration (tardar en)

To express how long it takes to complete an action, use the verb tardar (to take time) with this structure:

tardar + [amount of time] + en + [infinitive]

Conjugate tardar for the person and tense. The amount of time goes directly after it, followed by en and the unconjugated verb.

How many years did it take you to speak fluent Spanish?
¿Cuántos años tardaste en hablar español fluido?
We took two months to understand the dialect.
Tardamos dos meses en comprender el dialecto.
They took a lot of time to master the pronunciation.
Ellos tardaron mucho tiempo en dominar la pronunciación.
You all take little time to learn the dialect.
Ustedes tardan poco tiempo en aprender el dialecto.