Breakdown of Llevo diez años sin venir aquí y apenas recuerdo a los profesores.
el profesor
teacher
y
and
los
the (masculine plural)
aquí
here
el año
year
recordar
to remember
venir
to come
diez
ten
sin
without
llevar
to have been (doing) for a time
apenas
barely
a
personal 'a' (marks a human direct object)
Questions & Answers about Llevo diez años sin venir aquí y apenas recuerdo a los profesores.
Why does Spanish use llevo ... sin venir instead of a direct translation like "no he venido" (I haven't come)?
While you could say no he venido aquí en diez años, the formula llevar + [time] + sin + [infinitive] is a very common and natural way to emphasize the length of time spent without doing something. It translates literally to "I carry ten years without coming here."
Why is llevo in the present tense if the ten years started in the past?
Why is the infinitive venir used after sin?
In Spanish, prepositions like sin (without), de (of/from), and para (for) are always followed by the infinitive form of a verb. While English often uses an "-ing" word after a preposition ("without coming"), Spanish strictly uses the infinitive: sin venir.
Why is there an a right before los profesores?
This is a great refresher on the "personal a". In Spanish, when the direct object of a verb is a specific person or group of people, you must place an a right before it. Since the things you barely remember are people (los profesores), the a is required here.
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