How do I say'...

Question

How do I say "had been working on"? Is that a verb tense'

Answer 1

Thank you. That's exactly what I was looking for.

Answer 2

Thank you Matías. And I like your translation of the quote, as well.

Sarah, if you're interested in a paraphrase, perhaps something like the following:

Durante veinte años, en la formación de sus potes, Juan seguía recreando los métodos tradicionales perdidos.

Over twenty years, in making his pots, Juan had worked on recreating the lost traditional methods.

Answer 3

Gracias

Answer 4

Something like this

"Luego de 20 años de expermentación ha logrado recrear el primitivo proceso para hacer potes de la gente de Casas Grandes."

Answer 5

The actual line from my source is: After twenty years of experiments he had suceeded in recreating the primative pot-making process of the Casas Grandes people. But I don't want to quote it.

Answer 6

Nice answer, David Hoover II.

Answer 7

That is very helpful, but still not quite the right sense. This paragraph of my paper is about Juan Quezada, a potter from Mexico who had spent 20 years rediscovering traditional methods for recreating pots similar to the potsherds he was finding in his village. It's not just that he was making pots for twenty years but that he had worked on the method for 20 years. I am really appreciating all this feedback.

Answer 8

"Juan had been working on making the pots by following the traditional methods for twenty years."

You're probably going to want to go with something along the lines of, 'hacía veinte años que Juan utilizaba los métodos tradicionales para formar sus potes.' Roughly, 'for twenty years Juan had been using traditional methods to make his pots.' The key is that you will probably have to separate the time component, 'had been for twenty years,' from your verb phrase in order to come up with a more naturally Spanish expression.

Answer 9

I think that "El pote está formado" in english it's like "the jar is formed"
"had been worked on making" is "Se ha trabajado en haciendo" that dont have grammatical sense

post me the entire phrase and maybe i'll help you

Answer 10

In English I want to say "Juan had been working on making the pots by following the traditional methods for twenty years." So which one would be better'

Answer 11

Oh, thank you so much. If I say "had been working on making" would that be había estado trabajando en haciendo? I have learned one year of spanish, but these constructions are more advanced than what I have learned so far. I think I know all of the parts but don't know how to put them together. Is "El pote está formado" correct or is ser used'

Answer 12

Hi Sarah

i think you want to say "Estuve trabajando"

Cheers