Spanish vocabulary · Beginner
How to Say Arrive in Spanish
Llegar · verb · yeh-GAR
Llegar is a regular -ar verb meaning to arrive or to reach a destination. It requires the preposition a before a place (llegar a Madrid), unlike English, which uses various prepositions. In the preterite, the first-person form has a spelling change: llegué.
yeh-GAR (Latin America) / lyeh-GAR (parts of Spain)
¿A qué hora vas a llegar a la fiesta?
What time are you going to arrive at the party?
Arrive in Spanish: Quick Reference
Below are the most common Spanish words for arrive, with pronunciation and regional usage notes.
| Spanish | English | Pronunciation | Region / Register |
|---|---|---|---|
| llegar | arrive | yeh-GAR | Default, widely understood |
| arribar | arrive | formal or nautical |
How Native Speakers Use Llegar
Real example sentences across three contexts you'll actually run into.
Travel
Llegamos a Barcelona después de un vuelo de tres horas.
We arrived in Barcelona after a three-hour flight.
Llegar a is the required preposition-verb pairing for destinations, never llegar en.
Explaining a delay
Llegué al aeropuerto con dos horas de retraso por la tormenta.
I arrived at the airport two hours late because of the storm.
In the preterite, the yo form changes g to gu before é to preserve the hard g sound: llegué.
Package delivery
El paquete debería llegar mañana por la mañana.
The package should arrive tomorrow morning.
Llegar also applies to objects and abstract things reaching a destination, not only people.
Avoid These Mistakes When Using Llegar
Using en instead of a
Incorrect: Llegamos en la estación a las diez.
Correct: Llegamos a la estación a las diez.
Spanish requires llegar + a for destinations. English says 'arrive at/in,' but Spanish always uses a.
Forgetting the spelling change in preterite
Incorrect: Yo llegé a tiempo.
Correct: Yo llegué a tiempo.
To keep the hard /g/ sound before the vowel e, Spanish inserts a u: llegué. Without it, ge would sound like /he/.
Lock in Arrive Vocabulary with the Parrot Method
Why word lists alone don't stick
Memorizing a translation feels productive, but most learners forget 70% of what they studied within 48 hours. Vocabulary needs spaced repetition AND real-world exposure to transfer to long-term memory.
See Llegar used by native speakers
Parrot's short-form videos feature native speakers using llegar in real situations. Context-based exposure beats flashcards, you hear ¿A qué hora vas a llegar a la fiesta? while watching someone live the moment, connecting meaning, sound, and rhythm at once.
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Common Questions About Arrive in Spanish
- Why can't I say llegar en Madrid?
- In Spanish, llegar always takes the preposition a before a destination. Saying llegar en would sound as wrong to a native speaker as 'arrive on Madrid' does in English.
- What is the difference between llegar and arribar?
- Arribar is a formal or literary synonym used mainly in nautical and aviation contexts (El barco arribó al puerto). In everyday speech, llegar is the universal choice.
- How do I conjugate llegar in the present tense?
- Llegar follows regular -ar conjugation: yo llego, tú llegas, él/ella llega, nosotros llegamos, vosotros llegáis, ellos/ellas llegan. The only irregularity appears in the preterite yo form: llegué.