Hi, everybody! Espero que estén todos bien.

Today let’s take a look at the verb phrase liarse a followed by the infinitive in Spanish. This phrase expresses the beginning of an action where its timespan is not clearly perceived, because you basically do something and lose track of time.

People usually use this perífrasis to express a perfect excuse for not doing something. Here’s an example:

Perdóname el retraso, pero es que me he liado a limpiar la casa y no me he dado cuenta de la hora.
Sorry I’m late, but I got caught up in cleaning the house and didn’t realize how late it was.

Me he retrasado, lo siento. Me he liado a corregir los exámenes de los alumnos y he perdido la noción del tiempo.
I’m late, sorry. I got caught up in correcting my students’ tests and I have lost track of time.

It can also be used not as an excuse, but as a means of saying that you just lost track of time:

Me lié a estudiar a las cuatro, y cuando miré la hora ya eran las siete.
I got caught up in studying at four and when I looked at the time it was already seven.

However, the time references are not the only ones since in other cases what is emphasized is the non-controlled use of the action being performed:

Se lió a comer pasteles, hasta que ya no hubo.
He started eating cakes until there was none left.

El ladrón se lió a correr al ver la policía.
The thief started running when he saw the police. (And kept on running for some time.)

In the sentence above the person started eating cakes and didn’t stop, because they couldn’t control it. Here’s another example:

Se lió a insultarnos, hasta que llegó la policía.
He kept on insulting us until the police arrived.

Elena se lió a gritar al ver el ratón.
Elena started crying when she saw the mouse. (She kept on crying for some time.)

Why don’t you write some more sentences with the liarse a + infinitive perífrasis? Looking forward to your comments!