Breakdown of ¿Cuántos meses llevas dedicando tiempo a esta pasión?
cuánto
how much / how many
a
to
el tiempo
time
el mes
the month
esta
this (feminine)
llevar
to have been (doing) for a time
dedicar
to dedicate
la pasión
the passion
Questions & Answers about ¿Cuántos meses llevas dedicando tiempo a esta pasión?
Why is it llevas dedicando instead of has estado dedicando for "have you been dedicating"?
While has estado dedicando is grammatically correct and means the same thing, native Spanish speakers heavily prefer using llevar + gerund (like dedicando) to express how long an ongoing action has been happening up to the present. It is the most natural way to translate "have been doing [something]" when an amount of time is involved!
The lesson says the structure is llevar + [time] + gerund. Why are the words in a different order here?
Because it's a question asking about the amount of time! Instead of stating the time in the middle (like llevas tres meses dedicando...), the "amount of time" is replaced by the question phrase ¿Cuántos meses...? and moved to the very beginning. The rest of the formula (llevar + gerund) simply stays together as llevas dedicando.
Why do we need the a before esta pasión? Is it the "personal a"?
No, this isn't the "personal a" (which is only used for people or pets). Here, a simply means "to". You are dedicating time to something. In Spanish, just like in English, the verb dedicar (to dedicate) uses the preposition a to introduce the thing receiving the dedication.
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