Spanish grammar - The various uses of the verb llegar - 'to arrive'

The various uses of the verb llegar - 'to arrive'

The verb llegar is one of the most common Spanish verbs. It is a regular -AR verb.

Besides the obvious meaning of 'to arrive,' it has several other meanings and uses:

• As mentioned, it can mean 'to arrive' or 'to reach a destina-tion'.

• It can also mean 'to be coming' or 'to be on one's way' in a present continuous sense even when used in the simple present.

• It can mean 'to happen' or 'to occur'.

-- This can be with a person as the subject, often with an indi-rect pronoun, e.g., 'me llegó' ('it happened to me').

-- Or it can be impersonal in the sense of 'it happened that...' or 'there was...'.

• With the preposition a, it means 'to reach', 'to achieve', or 'to get to' - both literally and figuratively.

• With the preposition a plus an infinitive, it means 'to manage to do (something)' or 'to succeed in doing (something)'.

Examples:
	Llegué temprano a la reunión. (I) arrived early to the meeting. In this case llegar means 'to arrive' as in reaching a destination
	Estamos llegando a la casa de Juan. (We) are arriving at Juan's house. In this case llegar means 'to arrive' as in reaching a destination
	Me llegó una carta inesperada. An unexpected letter happened to arrive to me. inesperada means 'unexpected' In this case llegar means 'to arrive' as in reaching a destination with an indirect pronoun
	Llegaron a un acuerdo. They reached an agreement. acuerdo (m) means 'agreement' In this case llegar means 'to reach' or 'to achieve' a state or condition
	¿Llegaste a entender el problema? Did (you, familiar) manage to understand the problem? In this case llegar means 'to manage to do' or 'to succeed in doing' something
	El tren llegará pronto. The train will be arriving soon. In this case llegar means 'to arrive' as in reaching a destination
	¿Llegaste a tiempo? Did (you, familiar) arrive on time? In this case llegar means 'to arrive' as in reaching a destination
	La noticia llegó a toda la ciudad. The news reached the entire city. noticia means 'news' In this case llegar means 'to reach' or 'to achieve a destination
	Finalmente llegaron a la cumbre. They finally reached the summit. cumbre (f) means 'summit' In this case llegar means 'to reach' or 'to achieve a destination’
	Lo que pasó me llegó al alma. What happened reached my soul. OR '...touched my soul'. alma (f) means 'soul' In this case llegar means 'to reach' or 'to achieve a destination’
	Llega el invierno. Winter is coming. invierno (m) means 'winter' In this case llegar means 'to be coming' or 'to be on one's way'
	No llegué a tiempo para la película. (I) did not arrive on time for the movie. In this case llegar means 'to arrive' as in reaching a destination
	Nos llegó la oportunidad de viajar. The opportunity to travel came to us. In this case llegar means 'to happen' or the impersonal 'it happened to us to us'
	Llegamos a ser buenos amigos. (We) (in the end) became good friends. buen amigo (m) means 'good friend' In this case llegar means 'to manage to do' or 'to succeed in doing' something
	Él llegará a ser un gran médico. He will become a great doctor. gran médico means 'great doctor' In this case llegar means 'to manage to do' or 'to succeed in doing' something
	¿Te llegó el mensaje? Did the message reach (you, familiar)? mensaje (m) means 'message' In this case llegar means 'to reachits destination
	Llegó un momento de tranquilidad. A moment of tranquility happened. tranquilidad (f) means 'tranquility' In this case llegar means 'to happen' or 'to occur' with an im-personal subject
	No llegué a entender por qué se fue. (I) did not manage to understand why he left. In this case llegar means 'to manage to do' or 'to succeed in doing' something
	Se llega a la verdad con paciencia. One reaches the truth with patience. In this case llegar means 'to reach' or 'to achieve' a state or condition
	Llegó un momento de silencio. There came a moment of silence. silencio (m) means 'silence' in this case, llegar means 'it happened that there was'
	Llegaron muchas quejas de los vecinos. There were many complaints from the neighbors. muchas means 'many' queja (f) means 'complaint' In this case llegar means 'it happened that there were'
	Llegó una tormenta inesperada. There arrived an unexpected storm.
	Llegó la hora de la verdad. The moment of truth (has) arrived.
	Llegaron rumores sobre el evento. There were rumors about the event. rumor (m) means 'rumor' evento (m) means 'event'