Breakdown of El autobús se demora veinte minutos.
el minuto
the minute
el autobús
the bus
veinte
twenty
demorar
to take time, to delay (LatAm; = tardar)
Questions & Answers about El autobús se demora veinte minutos.
The current lesson is about using tardar, but this sentence uses se demora. Are they interchangeable?
Why is it se demora with the reflexive pronoun se, rather than just demora?
When talking about the amount of time an action or a person takes, the reflexive form demorarse is much more natural in conversational Spanish than just demorar. You will almost always see the reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, etc.) used for this meaning.
The lesson formula is a verb + time + en + an infinitive. Why is there no en in this sentence?
You only need en plus an infinitive verb if you are stating the specific action that takes time. Since this sentence simply states that the bus takes twenty minutes without specifying an action like 'to arrive', the en and the extra verb are dropped.
How would I add an action to this sentence, like saying the bus takes twenty minutes 'to arrive'?