Llevo estudiando vs He estado estudiando [Archive] - Spanish language learning forums | Foros para el aprendizaje de inglés y español

BobRitter

August 12, 2021, 08:15 AM

Llevo estudiando mucho sin éxito.
He estado estudiando mucho sin éxito.
I have been studying a lot without success.

"Llevar" es un verbo muy interesante, difícil y confuso para mí. Tiene muchos significados y usos diferentes. Este uso era nuevo para mí. ¿Es común?

Como siempre, gracias.

AngelicaDeAlquezar

August 12, 2021, 07:52 PM

Yes, it's a very common usage. When used in this kind of expressions, it carries the idea of some kind of development. When used in sentences that could be constructed with this usage of "haber estado", "llevar" needs an explicit idea of time during which things have been happening.

- Llevo varios meses estudiando mucho sin éxito. :approx: He estado varios meses estudiando mucho sin éxito.

- Mis abuelos llevan muchos años viviendo en la ciudad. :approx: Mis abuelos han vivido en la ciudad muchos años.
My grandparents have been living in the city for many years.

- El Wi-Fi lleva horas sin funcionar. :approx: Hace varias horas que el Wi-Fi no funciona.
Wi-Fi hasn't been working for hours.

- Mi esposo y yo llevamos cuatro meses a dieta y ho hemos bajado nada. :approx: Mi esposo y yo hemos estado a dieta cuatro meses y no hemos bajado nada.
My husband and I have been on a diet for four months and we haven't lost any weight.

In your example, "he estado estudiando mucho", it's understood it's an ongoing process because of the ending "-ando/-iendo" in "estudiando", but "mucho" refers to the amount of effort, rather than the time spent working. That is why we can't say "Llevo estudiando mucho".
However, you can say "Llevo mucho estudiando", and this time it would be understood that you have been studying for a long time. The place of "mucho" here is important, since in the first sentence it modifies "estudiando" and in the other it's immediately attached to "llevo". :)