llegar
“llegar” means “to arrive” in Spanish. It has 3 different meanings depending on context:
to arrive
Also: to get to, to come
📝 In Action
El tren llega a las cinco.
A1The train arrives at five.
Normalmente llego a casa a las seis de la tarde.
A1I normally get home at six in the evening.
Mis padres llegaron ayer de sus vacaciones.
A2My parents arrived yesterday from their vacation.
to reach
Also: to be enough, to last
📝 In Action
La falda me llega hasta las rodillas.
B1The skirt reaches my knees.
Con este dinero, no nos llega para las entradas.
B1With this money, it's not enough for the tickets.
Espero que la comida llegue para todos los invitados.
B2I hope the food is enough for all the guests.
to become
Also: to get to be, to manage to
📝 In Action
Con mucho esfuerzo, llegó a ser el director de la empresa.
B2With a lot of effort, he became the director of the company.
Si estudias mucho, puedes llegar a ser lo que quieras.
B2If you study hard, you can become whatever you want.
¿Llegaste a ver la película que te recomendé?
B2Did you manage to see the movie I recommended to you?
🔄 Conjugations
indicative
present
imperfect
preterite
subjunctive
present
imperfect
🔀 Commonly Confused With
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✏️ Quick Practice
Quick Quiz: llegar
Question 1 of 1
Which sentence uses 'llegar' to mean 'to be enough'?
📚 More Resources
👥 Word Family▼
📚 Etymology▼
Comes from the Latin word `plicāre`, which meant 'to fold' or 'to furl a sail.' For ancient sailors, 'folding the sails' was the last thing they did when they reached the shore. Over time, the word's meaning shifted from this action to the result: arriving at port, and eventually, just 'to arrive'.
First recorded: 10th century
Cognates (Related words)
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Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between 'llegar', 'ir', and 'venir'?
'Llegar' is about arriving at a destination ('Llego a Madrid'). 'Ir' is about going to a destination ('Voy a Madrid'). 'Venir' is about coming towards the speaker ('¿Vienes a mi casa?'). Think of it as: Arrive, Go, Come.
Why does 'llegar' sometimes become 'llegué' or 'llegue'?
It's to keep the sound right! The letter 'g' in Spanish sounds hard (like in 'go') before 'a' or 'o' ('llego'), but soft (like 'h' in 'hello') before 'e' or 'i'. To keep the hard 'g' sound in forms like the past tense 'yo' ('llegué') and the subjunctive ('llegue'), we add a silent 'u' after the 'g'.