Using llevar + past participle to express the completion of an action so far (perífrasis verbal)

In Spanish there are different ways to express a completed action. We can use the verb llevar with this purpose too.

Learn about accumulated actions with llevar + past participle in Spanish

In Spanish we can use the verb llevar followed by a past participle to express the completion of an action. The effect of using this verbal structure is similar to using haber + past participle, however using llevar gives a nuance of accumulation or repetition, and implies that the action will continue in the future.

Let's see some examples:

In all these examples we can see a completed action [so far/until then] but we get the sense of a possible continuation in the future, by using llevar. If we had used the perfect tense with haber, that possible continuation wouldn't be implied.

Notice that when we use this structure with llevar, the participle agrees in gender and number with the object:

recorridos, kilómetros

leídas, páginas

publicadas, novelas

ahorrados, euros

Sometimes when using this structure, the meaning is a bit more literal and used to express how something is presented or what something includes. For example:

They are describing how something is presented (camisa horrorosa) or what something includes (descuento, sensor). The past participle is still agreeing with the object.

There is a very similar structure conveying the same meaning. See Using tener + past participle to express the completion of an action (perífrasis verbal)

See also Using llevar + past participle to express the completion of an action so far (perífrasis verbal) and Spanish verbs Llevar vs Llevarse (pronominal verbs)