Llegar Conjugation | How to Conjugate Llegar in Spanish

Llegar means “to arrive,” “to reach,” or “to get to.” You will learn its regular -AR endings, the spelling change g → gu before e, destination patterns, compound forms, and commands.

Llegar conjugation at a glance

Verb type: Irregular. Linguistically, llegar keeps regular -AR endings but preserves the /g/ sound by writing gu before e, producing llegué — “I arrived” — and llegue — “that I arrive.”

Llegar gerund, past participle, and infinitive

The infinitive names the verb, the gerund supports progressive constructions, and the past participle combines with haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — in compound forms. The participle llegado remains invariant in those compounds.

Form	Spanish	Natural English guide
Infinitive	llegar	to arrive / reach
Gerund	llegando	arriving / reaching
Past participle	llegado	arrived / reached

Llegar meaning and essential uses

Llegar — “to arrive / reach” — is primarily intransitive. A destination commonly follows a — “to”: Llego a casa a las seis. — “I get home at six.”

It also expresses reaching a state, amount, or result: Llegó a ser director. — “He became / came to be director.” El precio llegó a cien euros. — “The price reached one hundred euros.”

Llegar irregular conjugation patterns

Most forms use the stable stem lleg-. Before an ending beginning with e, Spanish writes gu to preserve the hard /g/ sound: llegué — “I arrived,” llegue — “that I arrive,” and lleguemos — “that we arrive.”

The present indicative, imperfect, future, conditional, gerund llegando — “arriving,” and participle llegado — “arrived” — otherwise follow the expected -AR pattern.

Llegar indicative and periphrastic conjugations

Llegar present tense conjugation

Present indicative (el presente de indicativo) — Use it for current situations, habits, facts, and contextually near-future reference. The table uses the verified paradigm.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	llego	I arrive / reach
Tú — you, singular informal	llegas	you arrive / reach
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	llega	he / she arrives / reaches; you arrive / reach (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	llegamos	we arrive / reach
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	llegáis	you arrive / reach (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	llegan	they arrive / reach; you arrive / reach (plural)

• Llego al trabajo a las ocho. — I arrive at work at eight.

Llegar preterite conjugation

Preterite (el pretérito perfecto simple / pretérito indefinido) — Use it for completed or bounded past events. The first-person singular is llegué — “I arrived,” with g → gu before e to preserve the consonant sound.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	llegué	I arrived / reached
Tú — you, singular informal	llegaste	you arrived / reached
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	llegó	he / she arrived / reached; you arrived / reached (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	llegamos	we arrived / reached
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	llegasteis	you arrived / reached (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	llegaron	they arrived / reached; you arrived / reached (plural)

• Ayer llegué tarde a la reunión. — Yesterday I arrived late to the meeting.

Llegar imperfect conjugation

Imperfect (el pretérito imperfecto) — Use it for habitual, descriptive, background, or ongoing past situations. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle llegado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	llegaba	I used to arrive / reach / was arriving / reaching
Tú — you, singular informal	llegabas	you used to arrive / reach / were arriving / reaching
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	llegaba	he / she used to arrive / reach / was arriving / reaching; you used to arrive / reach / were arriving / reaching (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	llegábamos	we used to arrive / reach / were arriving / reaching
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	llegabais	you used to arrive / reach / were arriving / reaching (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	llegaban	they used to arrive / reach / were arriving / reaching; you used to arrive / reach / were arriving / reaching (plural)

• Antes llegaba a casa más temprano. — I used to arrive home earlier.

Llegar present progressive

Present progressive — This verbal periphrasis focuses on an action or process in progress. Form it with present estar — “to be” — plus llegando — “arriving / reaching.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	estoy llegando	I am arriving / reaching
Tú — you, singular informal	estás llegando	you are arriving / reaching
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	está llegando	he / she is arriving / reaching; you are arriving / reaching (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	estamos llegando	we are arriving / reaching
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	estáis llegando	you are arriving / reaching (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	están llegando	they are arriving / reaching; you are arriving / reaching (plural)

• El tren está llegando a la estación. — The train is arriving at the station.

Llegar near future conjugation

Near future — This verbal periphrasis expresses an intention, plan, or expected event. Form it with present ir — “to go” — plus a — “to” — and llegar.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	voy a llegar	I am going to arrive / reach
Tú — you, singular informal	vas a llegar	you are going to arrive / reach
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	va a llegar	he / she is going to arrive / reach; you are going to arrive / reach (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	vamos a llegar	we are going to arrive / reach
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	vais a llegar	you are going to arrive / reach (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	van a llegar	they are going to arrive / reach; you are going to arrive / reach (plural)

• Voy a llegar en diez minutos. — I am going to arrive in ten minutes.

Llegar future tense conjugation

Simple future (el futuro simple) — Use it for future reference and, where useful, probability. The endings attach to the full infinitive; there is no separate irregular future or conditional stem.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	llegaré	I will arrive / reach
Tú — you, singular informal	llegarás	you will arrive / reach
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	llegará	he / she will arrive / reach; you will arrive / reach (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	llegaremos	we will arrive / reach
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	llegaréis	you will arrive / reach (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	llegarán	they will arrive / reach; you will arrive / reach (plural)

• Llegaremos antes de las nueve. — We will arrive before nine.

Llegar conditional conjugation

Conditional (el condicional simple) — Use it for hypothetical outcomes, softened statements, or related conditional meanings. The endings attach to the full infinitive; there is no separate irregular future or conditional stem.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	llegaría	I would arrive / reach
Tú — you, singular informal	llegarías	you would arrive / reach
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	llegaría	he / she would arrive / reach; you would arrive / reach (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	llegaríamos	we would arrive / reach
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	llegaríais	you would arrive / reach (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	llegarían	they would arrive / reach; you would arrive / reach (plural)

• Llegaría antes si no hubiera tráfico. — I would arrive earlier if there were no traffic.

Llegar present perfect conjugation

Present perfect (el pretérito perfecto compuesto) — Use it for completed events connected to a present reference frame; regional distribution varies. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle llegado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	he llegado	I have arrived / reached
Tú — you, singular informal	has llegado	you have arrived / reached
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	ha llegado	he / she has arrived / reached; you have arrived / reached (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hemos llegado	we have arrived / reached
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habéis llegado	you have arrived / reached (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	han llegado	they have arrived / reached; you have arrived / reached (plural)

• Ya he llegado a casa. — I have already arrived home.

Llegar past perfect conjugation

Past perfect (el pretérito pluscuamperfecto) — Use it for an event completed before another past reference point. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle llegado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	había llegado	I had arrived / reached
Tú — you, singular informal	habías llegado	you had arrived / reached
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	había llegado	he / she had arrived / reached; you had arrived / reached (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habíamos llegado	we had arrived / reached
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habíais llegado	you had arrived / reached (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habían llegado	they had arrived / reached; you had arrived / reached (plural)

• Habíamos llegado antes que los demás. — We had arrived before the others.

Llegar future perfect conjugation

Future perfect (el futuro perfecto) — Use it for an event expected to be completed before a future reference point. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle llegado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	habré llegado	I will have arrived / reached
Tú — you, singular informal	habrás llegado	you will have arrived / reached
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	habrá llegado	he / she will have arrived / reached; you will have arrived / reached (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habremos llegado	we will have arrived / reached
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habréis llegado	you will have arrived / reached (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habrán llegado	they will have arrived / reached; you will have arrived / reached (plural)

• Para entonces habrán llegado todos. — By then everyone will have arrived.

Llegar conditional perfect conjugation

Conditional perfect (el condicional compuesto) — Use it for a hypothetical completed outcome. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle llegado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	habría llegado	I would have arrived / reached
Tú — you, singular informal	habrías llegado	you would have arrived / reached
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	habría llegado	he / she would have arrived / reached; you would have arrived / reached (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habríamos llegado	we would have arrived / reached
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habríais llegado	you would have arrived / reached (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habrían llegado	they would have arrived / reached; you would have arrived / reached (plural)

• Habría llegado a tiempo con otro tren. — I would have arrived on time with another train.

Llegar subjunctive conjugations

Llegar present subjunctive conjugation

Present subjunctive (el presente de subjuntivo) — Use it in subordinate environments involving wishes, influence, emotion, doubt or denial, evaluation, necessity, possibility, or non-specific reference. All present-subjunctive forms use gu before e: llegue, llegues, lleguemos, lleguéis — the appropriate forms of “arrive / reach.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	llegue	that I arrive / reach
Tú — you, singular informal	llegues	that you arrive / reach
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	llegue	that he / she arrive / reach; that you arrive / reach (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	lleguemos	that we arrive / reach
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	lleguéis	that you arrive / reach (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	lleguen	that they arrive / reach; that you arrive / reach (plural)

• Espero que llegues temprano. — I hope you arrive early.

Llegar imperfect subjunctive conjugation

Imperfect subjunctive (el imperfecto de subjuntivo) — The main table uses the -ra series. The accepted -se series is also valid in many contexts and is demonstrated after the table. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle llegado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	llegara	that I arrived / reached
Tú — you, singular informal	llegaras	that you arrived / reached
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	llegara	that he / she arrived / reached; that you arrived / reached (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	llegáramos	that we arrived / reached
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	llegarais	that you arrived / reached (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	llegaran	that they arrived / reached; that you arrived / reached (plural)

• Preferían que llegáramos juntos. — They preferred that we arrive together.
• Era mejor que llegases antes del cierre. — It was better for you to arrive before closing.

Llegar future subjunctive conjugation

Future subjunctive (el futuro de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. It survives mainly in formal, legal, proverbial, literary, or historical contexts. These rare reference forms share the same historical family as the imperfect subjunctive.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	llegare	if / when I should arrive / reach
Tú — you, singular informal	llegares	if / when you should arrive / reach
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	llegare	if / when he / she should arrive / reach; if / when you should arrive / reach (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	llegáremos	if / when we should arrive / reach
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	llegareis	if / when you should arrive / reach (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	llegaren	if / when they should arrive / reach; if / when you should arrive / reach (plural)

• Quien llegare después de la hora deberá registrarse. — Whoever should arrive after the stated time must register.

Llegar present perfect subjunctive conjugation

Present perfect subjunctive (el pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo) — Use it when a completed event appears inside a present- or future-oriented subjunctive environment. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle llegado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	haya llegado	that I have arrived / reached
Tú — you, singular informal	hayas llegado	that you have arrived / reached
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	haya llegado	that he / she has arrived / reached; that you have arrived / reached (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hayamos llegado	that we have arrived / reached
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hayáis llegado	that you have arrived / reached (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hayan llegado	that they have arrived / reached; that you have arrived / reached (plural)

• Me alegra que hayas llegado bien. — I am glad that you arrived safely.

Llegar past perfect subjunctive conjugation

Past perfect subjunctive (el pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo) — The main table uses hubiera; hubiese is an accepted auxiliary alternative in many contexts and is demonstrated after the table. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle llegado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	hubiera llegado	that I had arrived / reached
Tú — you, singular informal	hubieras llegado	that you had arrived / reached
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	hubiera llegado	that he / she had arrived / reached; that you had arrived / reached (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hubiéramos llegado	that we had arrived / reached
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hubierais llegado	that you had arrived / reached (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hubieran llegado	that they had arrived / reached; that you had arrived / reached (plural)

• Si hubiéramos llegado antes, habríamos encontrado sitio. — If we had arrived earlier, we would have found a place.
• Si hubieses llegado a tiempo, habrías visto el inicio. — If you had arrived on time, you would have seen the beginning.

Llegar future perfect subjunctive conjugation

Future perfect subjunctive (el futuro perfecto de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. Treat it as a formal or historical reference form, not an everyday conversational target. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus the invariant participle llegado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	hubiere llegado	if / when I should have arrived / reached
Tú — you, singular informal	hubieres llegado	if / when you should have arrived / reached
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	hubiere llegado	if / when he / she should have arrived / reached; if / when you should have arrived / reached (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hubiéremos llegado	if / when we should have arrived / reached
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hubiereis llegado	if / when you should have arrived / reached (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hubieren llegado	if / when they should have arrived / reached; if / when you should have arrived / reached (plural)

• Si hubieren llegado los documentos, deberán archivarse. — If the documents should have arrived, they must be filed.

Llegar imperative and commands

Commands address another person directly. The nosotros/nosotras row is a present-subjunctive form used with exhortative “let’s…” value.

Llegar affirmative commands

Use the verified affirmative command forms for direct instructions when the target meaning supports them naturally.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	llega	arrive
Usted — you, singular formal	llegue	arrive (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	lleguemos	let’s arrive
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	llegad	arrive (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	lleguen	arrive (plural)

• Llega diez minutos antes. — Arrive ten minutes early.

Llegar negative commands

Negative commands use subjunctive-based forms, with no — “not / do not” — before the verb.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	no llegues	do not arrive
Usted — you, singular formal	no llegue	do not arrive (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	no lleguemos	let’s not arrive
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	no lleguéis	do not arrive (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	no lleguen	do not arrive (plural)

• No llegues tarde mañana. — Do not arrive late tomorrow.

Common constructions with Llegar

These patterns show sentence frames that materially affect how the target verb is used.

• llegar a + place. — to arrive at / reach a place.
• llegar a + infinitive. — to come to / manage to do something.
• llegar tarde / temprano. — to arrive late / early.

Example sentences with Llegar

These examples reinforce the target verb across useful forms and contexts already taught in the lesson.

• Llegamos a Madrid por la tarde. — We arrive in Madrid in the afternoon.
• ¿A qué hora llegó el tren? — What time did the train arrive?
• Estoy llegando a casa. — I am arriving home.
• Espero que llegues antes de las ocho. — I hope you arrive before eight.
• No llegó a terminar el informe. — He / she did not manage to finish the report.
• Llega con tiempo suficiente. — Arrive with enough time.

Regional and usage notes for Llegar

The core tables retain tú, usted, vosotros/vosotras, and ustedes for project comparability. Voseo changes some second-person singular forms in regions where vos — “you, singular informal” — is used.

• Vos llegás temprano casi siempre. — You arrive early almost always. (voseo)
• Llegá diez minutos antes. — Arrive ten minutes early. (affirmative vos command)

For llegar, the conjugation is mostly regular. The crucial exception is spelling: use gu before e in forms such as llegué and llegue so the consonant sound stays unchanged.