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El aprendiz limpia el taller desde hace una hora.

El aprendiz limpia el taller desde hace una hora.
The apprentice has been cleaning the workshop for an hour.
From Lesson 121:Ongoing duration (desde hace)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about El aprendiz limpia el taller desde hace una hora.

Why is the present tense limpia (cleans) used when the English translation says "has been cleaning"?
In Spanish, when an action started in the past and is still happening right now, you use the present tense. Because the apprentice hasn't finished, we use the present tense limpia combined with a time expression to show it is ongoing. English handles this differently by using "has been cleaning."
How does desde hace work in this sentence?
Desde hace translates to "for" when you are talking about the duration of an ongoing action. Literally, desde means "since" and hace means "it makes." You always follow desde hace with an amount of time, like una hora (an hour) or tres días (three days).
What is the difference between using desde hace una hora and just hace una hora?
They change the meaning completely! Desde hace una hora (plus a present tense verb) means the action has been going on for an hour. If you just use hace una hora with a past tense verb (like El aprendiz limpió el taller hace una hora), it means he cleaned the workshop an hour ago.
What exactly is a taller?
A taller is a workspace where manual labor, repairs, or crafts happen. It translates directly to "workshop" here, but it is also the standard Spanish word for a mechanic's garage (un taller mecánico) or an artist's studio.
Can I move desde hace una hora to the beginning of the sentence?
Yes, you can! You can say Desde hace una hora, el aprendiz limpia el taller. Moving the time phrase to the front is very common in Spanish and is a great way to emphasize how long the apprentice has been stuck cleaning.

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