To talk about how someone spends a specific block of time doing an action, use the reflexive verb pasarse followed by a time expression and a gerund.
A gerund is the -ando or -iendo form of a verb (like durmiendo or jugando). When combined with pasarse and a time phrase (like la tarde or las horas), it means that someone spends that entire period doing the activity.
| My brother spends the afternoon sleeping, lying down in the hammock. | Mi hermano se pasa la tarde durmiendo, tumbado en la hamaca. |
| They spend the hours playing with the console next to the fan. | Ellos se pasan las horas jugando con la consola junto al ventilador. |
Describing Lazy Habits
This structure is perfect for describing long summer days, lounging around, or complaining about someone's unproductive habits. Notice how the time expression always sits right between the conjugated form of pasarse and the gerund.
| The bad thing about summer is that those lazy kids spend the day lazing around. | Lo malo del verano es que esos chicos vagos se pasan el día holgazaneando. |
| My mother spends the morning scolding my cousin for being lazy. | Mi madre se pasa la mañana regañando a mi primo por vago. |
Adding Emphasis
To complain about or exaggerate the time being spent, you might hear the emphatic phrase ¡La de [noun] que...! at the beginning of a sentence. This translates to "The amount of [noun] that...!" or "The number of [noun] that...!"
| The number of days they spend playing with that video game console! | ¡La de días que se pasan jugando con esa consola de videojuegos! |