“Llevo dos años aquí”: how long you have been doing it
CEFR A2 · part 2
edumaterial's parts within the level. The European framework does not subdivide them.
“Vosotros” or “ustedes”: two systems, both rightRecognising and producing both plural-you systems: “vosotros” with its own verb forms…“He comido” or “comí”: today's pastChoosing the tense for something finished but still inside today, this week or this…“Me levanto”: verbs with a pronoun attachedUsing reflexive verbs for daily routine, and the pairs where adding the pronoun changes…“Muy” or “mucho”Using “muy” in front of adjectives and adverbs, and “mucho” with verbs and nouns…“Nadar es sano”: where English says “-ing” and Spanish does notUsing the infinitive where English uses “-ing”: as a subject (“nadar es sano”), after a…“Ser” or “estar”: two verbs for one “to be”Choosing between “ser” and “estar” in everyday sentences: who you are and what you are…The rule, in three lines
To say how long something has been going on, Spanish uses the PRESENT: vivo aquí desde hace dos años, llevo dos años aquí, hace dos años que vivo aquí. Three shapes for one English sentence, and the three of them in the present tense.
The usual slip. Using a perfect because English does: he vivido aquí desde dos años, which mixes the wrong tense with the wrong preposition.
Why it catches you out. English says “I HAVE LIVED here for two years”, and Spanish says it in the present because for a Spanish speaker you still live there: it has not finished. Get the tense right and the rest falls into place — and note that “desde” takes a date and “desde hace” takes a length of time.