Have you ever tried to ask or explain in Spanish how long it takes or took to do something?
Why are we asking this? Because there’s a key verb you need to know to talk about the time required for an action or process, and native speakers use it a lot – tardar.
Used with segundos (seconds), minutos (minutes), horas (hours), días (days) or another time expression, tardar means to take:
El proceso tarda 10-14 horas.
The process takes 10-14 hours.
Hay vuelos diarios desde Atenas que tardan unos 45 minutos.
There are daily flights from Athens which take about 45 minutes.
Se puede subir a pie, pero esto puede tardar unas 8 a 10 horas.
You can go up on foot, but this can take some 8 to 10 hours.
La construcción tardó 18 meses.
The construction took 18 months.
Building on this is another very important construction:
Tardar + TIME EXPRESSION +en + INFINITIVE.
You use this to talk about something or someone taking a certain amount of time to do something:
Este tipo de árbol tarda mucho tiempo en crecer.
This kind of tree takes a long time to grow, It takes this kind of tree a long time to grow.
Los síntomas tardan varias semanas en desaparecer.
The symptoms take several weeks to disappear. OR It takes the symptoms several weeks to disappear.
Javier tardó un tiempo en recuperarse de sus heridas.
Javier took some time to recover from his injuries. OR It took Javier some time to recover from his injuries.
Tardé unos seis años en volver a Barcelona.
It took me some six years to go back to Barcelona. OR It was some six years before I went back to Barcelona.
No ha tardado nada en convertirse en el mejor jugador.
He’s taken no time at all. OR It’s taken him no time at all to become the best player.
As you can see from the above, the Spanish equivalent of both
X takes Y minutes/hours/days to… and It takes X Y minutes/hours/days to…
is X tarda Y minutos/horas/días en + INFINITIVE.
Using tardar with ¿Cuánto…? (or ¿Cuánto tiempo…?), you can ask how long something or someone takes or took to do something:
¿Cuánto tarda el autobús en llegar a Sitges?
How long does the bus take to get to Sitges? OR How long does it take the bus to get to Sitges?
¿Cuánto tarda la luz del Sol en llegar a la Tierra?
How long does sunlight take to reach Earth? OR How long does it take sunlight to reach Earth?
¿Cuánto tarda la batería en cargarse?
How long does the battery take to charge? OR How long does it take the battery to charge?
¿Cuánto tiempo tardó esta investigación?
How long did this investigation take?
There are lots of occasions in day-to-day life when you can use no tardar without a specific time expression. For example, when using it to hurry someone up or when promising not to be long (or late) as well as when describing how quickly something happened:
No tardes o te perderás la película.
Don’t be long or you’ll miss the film.
Intenta no tardar mucho.
Try not to be/take too long.
No tardo nada.
I won’t be long.
La investigación estaba tardando más de lo esperado.
The investigation was taking longer than expected.
No tardar is also often used with en + INFINITIVE:
No tardé mucho en encontrar trabajo.
I didn’t take very long to find work. OR It didn’t take me very long to find work.
Los conflictos no tardaron en llegar.
It didn’t take long for conflicts to break out. OR It wasn’t long before conflicts broke out.
DID YOU KNOW?
When talking factually about the duration/length of something from start to finish rather than focusing on how long is/was needed to complete a process or action, the verb you need is durar, whose main meaning is to last but in some circumstances translates as to take.
El viaje en tren a París dura dos horas y cuarto.
The train journey to Paris takes two and a quarter hours.
El vuelo duró aproximadamente 12 horas.
The flight took approximately 12 hours.
TEST YOURSELF
Can you complete the following examples? This means using tardar in an appropriate form along with some other words.
- La ambulancia …………… …………… …………… …………… …………… .
It took the ambulance several hours to arrive. - …………… …………… …………… …………… …………… su objetivo.
It took him a year to achieve his objective. - ¿ …………… …………… la operación?
How long will the operation take? - Los ojos …………… …………… …………… …………… …………… a la oscuridad.
Your eyes take several minutes to adapt to the dark. - …………… …………… …………… …………… …………… su viaje.
It took him some weeks to begin his journey. - …………… …………… …………… …………… …………… a la vida urbana.
It would take them more time to adapt to urban life. - …………… …………… …………… …………… cuenta de que no era así.
It didn’t take me long to realize that it wasn’t like that. - Su viaje …………… …………… …………… …………….
Their trip took nearly six months. - El viaje en automóvil desde Nairobi …………… …………… …………… …………….
The journey by car from Nairobi takes some three days. - La elección no tardará.
The election …………… ……………..
ANSWERS
- La ambulancia tardó varias horas en llegar.
It took the ambulance several hours to get there. - Tardó un año en conseguir su objetivo.
It took him a year to achieve his objective. - ¿Cuánto tardará la operación?
How long will the operation take? - Los ojos tardan varios minutos en adaptarse a la oscuridad.
Your eyes take several minutes to adapt to the dark. - Tardó algunas semanas en comenzar su viaje.
It took him some weeks to begin his journey. - Tardarían más tiempo en adaptarse a la vida urbana.
It would take them more time to adapt to urban life. - No tardé en darme cuenta de que no era así.
It didn’t take me long to realize that it wasn’t like that. - Su viaje tardó casi seis meses.
Their trip took nearly six months. - El viaje en automóvil desde Nairobi tarda unos tres días.
The journey by car from Nairobi takes some three days. - La elección no tardará.
The election won’t be long in coming, It won’t be long before there’s an election.
Using tardar when appropriate will help your Spanish sound natural and idiomatic (and you’ll find some really handy phrases to learn above). We’ll be looking at other useful verbs too in the weeks to come, so do join us!
