Learn Spanish (Latin America): Mi hermana lleva dos años trabajando en esa academia. - My sister has been working in that academy for two years.

Mi hermana lleva dos años trabajando en esa academia.

My sister has been working in that academy for two years.

Breakdown of Mi hermana lleva dos años trabajando en esa academia.

Questions & Answers about Mi hermana lleva dos años trabajando en esa academia.

Wait, doesn't llevar usually mean "to carry" or "to wear"?

Yes, but it has a very common special use for time! When you combine llevar with an amount of time and an action, it means you have been doing that action for that amount of time. In English, we usually say "have been doing something", but in Spanish, the literal idea is closer to "I carry [time] doing [something]."

What is the exact formula for this time structure?

The formula is: a conjugated form of llevar + the amount of time + the gerund (the -ando or -iendo form of the verb). In this sentence, we have lleva (she has been) + dos años (two years) + trabajando (working).

In English we say "working for two years." Why isn't the word por in this sentence?

When using this specific llevar structure, the concept of "for" is already built into the meaning of the phrase. You just put the amount of time directly after the verb. Saying lleva por dos años trabajando would be grammatically incorrect.

Could I use hace instead of lleva to express the same idea?

Yes, but you would have to change the grammar. You could say Mi hermana trabaja en esa academia desde hace dos años (My sister works in that academy since two years ago). Using llevar + gerund is often shorter and sounds extremely natural in everyday conversation.