📖LearnModule 12 · Lesson 7 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, completedUnit 2 · Las perífrasis verbales
Llevar y seguir + gerundio
Module 12 of the free Spanish course (CEFR C1, completed), lesson 7 of 30: Duration and continuation have their own phrases. On this page: 8 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
lleva dos años estudiando
she has been studying for two years
YEH-bah dohs AH-nyohs ehs-too-DYAHN-doh
sigue lloviendo
it is still raining
SEE-geh yoh-BYEHN-doh
llevo un mes sin verla
I have not seen her for a month
YEH-boh oon mehs seen BEHR-lah
la duración
the length of time
lah doo-rah-SYOHN
continuar
to continue
kohn-tee-NWAR
todavía
still, yet
toh-dah-BEE-ah
desde hace tiempo
for a long time now
DEHS-deh AH-seh TYEHM-poh
yo llevo un año aquí
I have been here for a year
yoh YEH-boh oon AH-nyoh ah-KEE
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
La regla · The rule
Duration and continuation have their own phrases. Llevar + time + gerundio says how long something has been going on: lleva dos años estudiando (she has been studying for two years). Its negative takes sin: llevo un mes sin verla.
Y también · And also
Seguir + gerundio is still: sigue lloviendo (it is still raining), sigo pensando lo mismo. English needs still or has been; Spanish builds it into the verb.
Ojo · Watch out
lleva dos años estudiando — the time goes BETWEEN llevar and the gerundio, and the present tense covers what English says with has been. The negative is llevar + sin + infinitive: llevo un mes sin verla.
llevar, presente — the table
yo llevo · tú llevas · él/ella/usted lleva · nosotros llevamos · ustedes llevan · ellos/ellas llevan
seguir, presente — the table
yo sigo · tú sigues · él/ella/usted sigue · nosotros seguimos · ustedes siguen · ellos/ellas siguen
Do it now — on paper
Say all 8 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with lleva dos años estudiando.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out llevar, presente and seguir, presente in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.