Tardar vs. Durar

[Aprendo]

At times they seem to refer to the same meaning in "time it takes to do or complete" an action.

Can someone clarify to specific differences and/or nuances?


Thanks.

[aleCcowaN]

At times they seem to refer to the same meaning in "time it takes to do or complete" an action.

Can someone clarify to specific differences and/or nuances?

Thanks.

Tardar is what matches "time it takes to do or complete".

Tardar means to spend time doing something or the time that's spent until something is completely done, and also to spend too much time doing something:

la masa tarda dos horas en levar = it takes two hours for the dough to rise
¡cuánto que está tardando! = it's taking too much time!

Durar is to last, continue, survive in some conditions

el matrimonio duró menos de seis meses = the marriage lasted less than six months
fue lindo mientras duró = it was nice while it lasted
mis esperanzas duraron poco = my hopes were short-lived
aún me dura el recuerdo de su visita = I still remember (vividly) she visiting me.

Tardar and durar may become closer in cases like this one:

¿Cuánto dura el viaje? = How long is the journey? = ¿Cuánto se tarda en llegar? = How long does the journey take? How long until we get there?

where durar focuses in the duration of some process while tardar points to the ending of such process.

[Aprendo]

Thanks, AleC.

I'll have to focus on using these 2 terms correctly.

Cheers.

[Tomisimo]

aleCcowaN's explanation and examples are great. One way to kind of keep the nuances straight in your head might be to think:


tardar = how long something takes (to do)
durar = how long something lasts

[Aprendo]

aleCcowaN's explanation and examples are great. One way to kind of keep the nuances straight in your head might be to think:


tardar = how long something takes (to do)
durar = how long something lasts

Thanks. :thumbsup: