Breakdown of Esas masas de tierra no se vienen alejando.
de
from / of
no
no, not
venir
to come
esas
those (feminine)
la tierra
dirt / land
la masa
the mass
alejarse
to move away
Questions & Answers about Esas masas de tierra no se vienen alejando.
What does vienen add to this sentence? Why not just say no se han estado alejando?
Using venir + the gerund (like alejando) is a special structure that emphasizes an action starting in the past and continuing up to the present, often happening gradually. While no se han estado alejando also translates to "they haven't been moving away," se vienen alejando gives a stronger feeling of an ongoing, gradual process over time.
Why do we need the se here? Doesn't alejar mean to move away?
Could the se go somewhere else in this sentence?
Yes! When you have a conjugated verb plus a gerund, pronoun placement is flexible. You can put the se before the conjugated verb (no se vienen alejando) or attach it to the end of the gerund (no vienen alejándose). Notice that if you attach it, you must add an accent mark to alejándose to keep the spoken stress on the correct syllable.
Why use Esas instead of Aquellas for "those" land masses?
Esas means "those" (moderately far away, or out of sight), while aquellas means "those over there" (emphasizing being far away in distance or time). Both work here, but in everyday Latin American Spanish, esas is the most common default word for "those" unless you specifically want to emphasize a great distance.
Learn Esas masas de tierra no se vienen alejando and more in Spanish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free