llegar means: to arrive, to come, to reach
Click to see all conjugation charts of llegar in every tense

In this Spanish conjugation lesson we will learn how to conjugate the verb llegar in the Pretérito tense of the Indicativo mood. It means we will see step by step how to create and translate forms of each grammatical person.

This lesson is specifically about the llegar conjugation. For an overview of Simple Tenses conjugation have a look at the Simple Tenses Conjugation Chart.

We also have a Video Presentation on how to conjugate verbs in Pretérito. It’s embedded below, but using the above link you can get more detailed information on conjugation in this tense and explanation of special cases and exceptions.

How to translate Pretérito to English

Note that the phrases in English provided below next to each conjugation are not direct translations from Spanish to English. They are usually the closest general equivalents. The example differences are:

• In Spanish conjugation, there is the form usted in the third person singular. But this person does not translate to the English third person singular. It translates to the so called formal you and uses the inflected form which is most often represented as he/she/it in English conjugation charts.
• Similar situation happens in the third person plural, where ustedes translates to the English plural formal you but uses the form which corresponds to the they form in English.
• Tenses are used differently in Spanish and English, so the actual translation should always take into account the context and focus on translating the meaning, not just words.
• In both languages each verb may have multiple meanings and not every meaning translates directly to the other language. Here also, the context and focusing on the particular meaning helps to create the most accurate translation.

Note the timeline

The ability to accurately locate the desired position on the timeline is a crucial skill for proper choice of tenses. So note the timeline in our lessons and visualize it while speaking, listening, writing and reading. After some practice you’ll be able to select the right tense to use much easier.

Step by step instructions

Pretérito belongs to the simple tenses group, which means that all of the inflected forms are one word long. There are also compound (compuesto) tenses in the Spanish language, where each inflected verb form consists of two words.The verb llegar in the Pretérito tense of the Indicativo mood conjugates following the normal rules for its group (-ar), but requires one spelling correction. The spelling corrections are in most cases not considered irregularities because they are predictable and often happen only in spelling to match the pronounced forms. For example that includes corrections necessary to keep the same consonant sound before the letters e/i and a/o which influence the pronunciation of c, g, z and others. Other corrections are accent changes, adding or dropping letters, etc. The basis for the conjugation in this tense is the stem of the verb, so we have to begin by splitting the infinitive into a stem and an ending. It’s very easy to do. Simply remove two letters from the end of the infinitive to get the ending — one of -ar, -er or -ir. What’s left is the stem. So in case of the verb llegar it’s easy to see that:

• the stem is: lleg-
• and the ending is: -ar

Use the stem lleg- in each subject as the basis for conjugation, the common prefix that each of the forms begins with. Next, add to this regular stem the endings specific to each person. Check out the image showing all the endings. Note the colors and shapes of the letters. It should help you find patterns and make it easier to remember these endings.Each grammatical person has a specific ending in each of the three conjugation groups -ar, -er, -ir. Add the regular ending -é for the first person singular to create llegé:

• yo llegé – I arrived

A spelling correction is necessary here.

Because the pronunciation is different when the letter g is followed by a/o/u and different when followed by e/i, we need to change the spelling of the stem to preserve the pronunciation of the infinitive. If we add the letter u after the g, its pronunciation does not change and u is not pronounced in this combination.So add u after g to get llegué:

• yo llegué – I arrived

One more time add the regular ending -aste for the second person singular to create llegaste:

• tú llegaste – you arrived

And similarly add the regular ending -ó for the third person singular to create llegó:

• él llegó – he arrived
• ella llegó – she arrived
• usted llegó – (formal) you arrived

Again add the regular ending -amos for the first person plural to create llegamos:

• nosotros llegamos – we arrived
• nosotras llegamos – (feminine) we arrived

And one more time add the regular ending -asteis for the second person plural to create llegasteis:

• vosotros llegasteis – (plural) you arrived
• vosotras llegasteis – (feminine, plural) you arrived

And similarly add the regular ending -aron for the third person plural to create llegaron:

• ellos llegaron – they arrived
• ellas llegaron – (feminine) they arrived
• ustedes llegaron – (formal, plural) you arrived

¡Ya está! The conjugation is now done. The final result looks as follows:

yo	llegué	I arrived
tú	llegaste	you arrived
él/ella/usted	llegó	he/she/it arrived
nosotros/nosotras	llegamos	we arrived
vosotros/vosotras	llegasteis	you arrived
ellos/ellas/ustedes	llegaron	they arrived

Click to see all conjugation charts of llegar in every tense
But do not end your session yet – it is very important to repeat and practice the material in order to remember it. Check below for example phrases and some links.

Example sentences

Next Steps to Perfection To practice this conjugation and test your knowledge try this Conjugation Exercise or the Memory Game To see other conjugation lessons for this verb choose another tense: PresenteImperfectoCondicionalFuturoPretérito Perfecto CompuestoPretérito PluscuamperfectoFuturo PerfectoCondicional PerfectoPretérito Perfecto Compuesto (subjuntivo)Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto A (subjuntivo)Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto B (subjuntivo)Futuro Perfecto (subjuntivo)  For exercises and examples related to llegar visit our Exercise section To see conjugation charts in all tenses for llegar visit the Conjugator To explore other learning materials visit the Study section

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