Breakdown of Venimos conservando el legado pacientemente.
conservar
to preserve
venir
to have been (doing), auxiliary + gerund
el legado
the legacy
pacientemente
patiently
Questions & Answers about Venimos conservando el legado pacientemente.
Why use venimos conservando here instead of llevamos conservando, which also means 'we have been conserving'?
Both structures express an action that started in the past and continues into the present. However, venir + gerund focuses on the accumulation of the action over time, often implying a gradual build-up or a continuous effort leading right up to now. Llevar + gerund is more neutral and is typically used to state the ongoing nature of an action or how much time it has been happening.
The English translation says 'We have been conserving', so why is venimos in the simple present tense?
In Spanish, when an action starts in the past and is still ongoing in the present, it is standard to use a present tense structure. The present tense of venir combined with the gerund conservando forms a verbal periphrasis that translates perfectly to the English present perfect continuous ('have been doing').
Could I just say Hemos estado conservando el legado?
Yes, you can. Hemos estado conservando is grammatically correct and means roughly the same thing. However, using venir + gerund adds a richer, more descriptive flavor. It specifically highlights the continuous, cumulative effort brought forward from the past to the present moment, which makes your Spanish sound much more advanced.
Can I place pacientemente earlier in the sentence, such as between the two verbs?