Durante o llevar?

Question

Can someone explain the criteria used to determine when it is best to use durante or llevar + infinitive in describing a period of time that had its beginning in the past. And is it ever ok to use para, like in the English construction: We have been going to this restaurant FOR a long time.

por ejemplo:

Hemos sido amigos durante diez años.

Llevamos casados tres años y medio.

Thanks for any help!

Answer 1

And is it ever ok to use para, like in the English construction: We have been going to this restaurant FOR a long time.

No, the preposition "para" is used to point at the end of something, so it wouldn't even make sense here. You can say "Hemos estado yendo a este restaurante durante mucho tiempo", and it would be perfect, but it is more common to say "Llevamos mucho (tiempo) yendo a este restaurante." Some people use "por" here instead of "durante", but in Spain, at least, it is rarely used.

Hemos sido amigos durante diez años.

It is perfect. The verb "llevar" with a state (ser amigos) would be somewhat unusual here, but "Llevamos diez años siendo amigos" is not wrong anyway.

Llevamos casados tres años y medio.

Again, "Hemos estado casados (durante) tres años y medio" is also perfect, even though natives are more likely to use "llevar". Notice that the preposition "durante" is purely optional here.

Thanks everyone for such clear explainations. - AAR0N, Jun 11, 2011

Answer 2

You can use them interchangeably:

1.-Hemos sido amigos durante diez años.

Llevamos siendo amigos diez años.

1.-Llevamos casados tres años y medio.

Hemos estado casados por tres años y medio.

Welcome to the forum

Good question.