What Is the Past Tense of Llegar? Conjugation, Forms & Examples 2026

If you are learning Spanish, you may know that llegar means “to arrive” or “to reach.” But when you want to say “I arrived,” “she arrived,” or “they arrived,” the verb changes depending on the past tense you need.

The most common past form of llegar is the preterite, which is used for completed actions in the past. For example, llegué means “I arrived.” You may also see forms such as llegaste, llegó, llegamos, and llegaron.

There is one important spelling change to remember. In the yo form of the preterite, llegar becomes llegué, with gu before the final é. This keeps the hard g sound found in llegar.

Spanish also uses the imperfect tense when an arrival was ongoing, habitual, or part of a background situation. In this guide, you will learn the past tense of llegar, its preterite and imperfect conjugations, formation rules, examples, common mistakes, and useful practice exercises.

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Quick Answer

The most common preterite past tense forms of llegar are llegué, llegaste, llegó, llegamos, llegasteis, llegaron.

Subject	Preterite
yo	llegué
tú	llegaste
él/ella	llegó
nosotros	llegamos
ellos/ellas	llegaron

Llegar = to arrive / to reach
Llegué = I arrived

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What Is the Past Tense of Llegar?

The Spanish verb llegar means “to arrive,” “to reach,” or “to get to a place.”

When talking about a completed action in the past, Spanish commonly uses the preterite tense, also called the pretérito indefinido or pretérito perfecto simple.

For example:

• Llegué a casa a las ocho. = I arrived home at eight.
• Ella llegó tarde. = She arrived late.
• Llegamos ayer. = We arrived yesterday.
• Ellos llegaron temprano. = They arrived early.

The preterite is especially useful when the arrival happened at a definite point in the past and the action is viewed as completed.

Llegar in the preterite

The full conjugation is:

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

Llegar in the imperfect

Spanish also has an imperfect form of llegar:

• yo llegaba   I was arriving / I used to arrive
• tú llegabas
• él/ella/usted llegaba
• nosotros/nosotras llegábamos
• vosotros/vosotras llegabais
• ellos/ellas/ustedes llegaban

The imperfect is used when the arrival was habitual, ongoing, or part of the background of another event.

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Structure of Sentences of the Past Tense of Llegar

The basic sentence structure is similar to other Spanish verbs.

Affirmative sentences

For a simple completed past action:

Subject + preterite form of llegar + complement

Examples:

• Yo llegué temprano. = I arrived early.
• María llegó a Madrid. = María arrived in Madrid.
• Nosotros llegamos a las seis. = We arrived at six.
• Ellos llegaron ayer. = They arrived yesterday.

Spanish often leaves out the subject pronoun because the verb ending already shows who performed the action.

So both are possible:

• Yo llegué temprano.
• Llegué temprano.

Both mean “I arrived early.”

Negative sentences

Place no before the conjugated verb.

Subject + no + past tense verb + complement

Examples:

• No llegué tarde. = I did not arrive late.
• Ella no llegó a tiempo. = She did not arrive on time.
• No llegamos ayer. = We did not arrive yesterday.
• Ellos no llegaron temprano. = They did not arrive early.

Interrogative sentences

Questions can use normal Spanish word order or a question structure based on context.

Examples:

• ¿Llegaste ayer? = Did you arrive yesterday?
• ¿Llegó Ana? = Did Ana arrive?
• ¿Llegaron a tiempo? = Did they arrive on time?
• ¿Cuándo llegaste? = When did you arrive?

Spanish does not need a separate equivalent of English did. The past tense form of the verb itself shows that the action happened in the past.

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Formation of the Past Tense of Llegar

Llegar is a regular  ar verb, but it has an important spelling change in the yo form of the preterite.

Preterite formation

The normal preterite endings for regular  ar verbs are:

 é,  aste,  ó,  amos,  asteis,  aron

The verb llegar uses these endings, but its stem changes slightly in the yo form:

lleg  + ué → llegué

The u is added before é because Spanish spelling uses gu to keep the hard g sound before e.

Without the u, llegé would not represent the expected pronunciation.

Full preterite conjugation

Subject	Form
yo	llegué
tú	llegaste
él/ella/usted	llegó
nosotros/nosotras	llegamos
vosotros/vosotras	llegasteis
ellos/ellas/ustedes	llegaron

Notice that only the yo form has the spelling change:

llegué

The other forms follow the normal regular  ar preterite pattern.

Imperfect formation

The imperfect of regular  ar verbs uses:

 aba,  abas,  aba,  ábamos,  abais,  aban

Therefore:

• yo llegaba
• tú llegabas
• él llegaba
• nosotros llegábamos
• vosotros llegabais
• ellos llegaban

Unlike the preterite llegué, the imperfect does not have the gu spelling change.

Other forms of llegar

Form	Example
Infinitive	llegar
Preterite	llegué
Past Participle	llegado
Gerund	llegando

Examples:

• He llegado. = I have arrived.
• Estaba llegando. = I was arriving / I was on my way there.

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How to Use the Past Tense of Llegar

The correct past form depends on what you want to say about the action.

1. Use the preterite for a completed arrival

Use the preterite when someone arrived at a specific point in the past.

Examples:

• Llegué a casa a las diez.
  = I arrived home at ten.
• El tren llegó a las cinco.
  = The train arrived at five.
• Llegamos a Madrid el lunes.
  = We arrived in Madrid on Monday.
• Ellos llegaron después de la cena.
  = They arrived after dinner.

2. Use the preterite for a single past event

If the arrival happened once and is viewed as completed, the preterite is usually appropriate.

• Ayer llegué temprano.
• I arrived early yesterday.
• Mi hermano llegó a las ocho.
• My brother arrived at eight.

3. Use the imperfect for habitual arrivals

The imperfect can describe something that happened regularly in the past.

• Siempre llegaba temprano a la escuela.
• I always arrived early at school.
• Mi padre llegaba a casa a las seis.
• My father used to arrive home at six.

Here, the action is not presented as one specific completed arrival.

4. Use the imperfect for an ongoing or background action

The imperfect can describe an arrival that was in progress or part of the background when another event happened.

• Cuando llegaba a casa, empezó a llover.
• When I was arriving home, it started to rain.

The arrival provides background, while empezó presents the other event as completed.

5. Use llegar + a + place

When saying that someone arrived at a destination, llegar a is commonly used.

Examples:

• Llegué a París.
• I arrived in Paris.
• Llegamos a la estación.
• We arrived at the station.
• Ella llegó a casa.
• She arrived home.

6. Use llegar + a + infinitive for “manage to”

The construction llegar a + infinitive can have another meaning: to manage to, to come to, or to eventually do something, depending on context.

Example:

• Llegó a entender el problema.
• He eventually came to understand the problem.

This is different from simply saying someone arrived at a place.

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Structure or Verb Pattern Table

Tense/Form	Pattern	Example
Infinitive	llegar	Quiero llegar temprano.
Preterite	llegué / llegaste / llegó	Llegué ayer.
Imperfect	llegaba / llegabas / llegaba	Llegaba temprano.
Present Perfect	haber + llegado	He llegado.
Past Perfect	haber imperfect + llegado	Había llegado.
Gerund	llegando	Estoy llegando.
Negative Preterite	no + preterite	No llegué tarde.

The most important forms for learners asking about llegar past tense are:

llegué, llegaste, llegó, llegamos, llegasteis, llegaron

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Real Life Examples

Everyday situations

• Llegué a casa tarde anoche.
  = I arrived home late last night.
• Llegaste justo a tiempo.
  = You arrived just in time.
• Carlos llegó temprano.
  = Carlos arrived early.
• Llegamos al aeropuerto a las nueve.
  = We arrived at the airport at nine.
• Mis amigos llegaron después de mí.
  = My friends arrived after me.

With specific past time expressions

• Llegué ayer.
  = I arrived yesterday.
• Llegó la semana pasada.
  = He arrived last week.
• Llegamos el sábado.
  = We arrived on Saturday.
• Llegaron hace dos horas.
  = They arrived two hours ago.

Questions

• ¿Cuándo llegaste?
  = When did you arrive?
• ¿Llegó tu hermana?
  = Did your sister arrive?
• ¿A qué hora llegaron?
  = What time did they arrive?
• ¿Llegaste a tiempo?
  = Did you arrive on time?

Negative examples

• No llegué tarde.
  = I did not arrive late.
• Ella no llegó a la reunión.
  = She did not arrive at the meeting.
• No llegamos a tiempo.
  = We did not arrive on time.
• Ellos no llegaron ayer.
  = They did not arrive yesterday.

Formal examples

• El presidente llegó a la reunión a las diez.
  = The president arrived at the meeting at ten.
• Los invitados llegaron puntualmente.
  = The guests arrived punctually.
• La delegación llegó a Madrid el lunes.
  = The delegation arrived in Madrid on Monday.

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Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Writing “llegé”

Incorrect:

• Yo llegé ayer.

Correct:

• Yo llegué ayer.

The yo preterite form requires gu before é.

Mistake 2: Forgetting the accent

Incorrect:

• Yo llegue a casa.

Correct:

• Yo llegué a casa.

The accent mark in llegué is important.

Without the accent, llegue can represent a different grammatical form, such as the present subjunctive depending on context.

Mistake 3: Using “llegaste” for él or ella

Incorrect:

• Ella llegaste tarde.

Correct:

• Ella llegó tarde.

Llegaste is the tú form.

Mistake 4: Confusing llegamos with llegábamos

These forms belong to different past tenses.

• Llegamos ayer. = We arrived yesterday.
• Llegábamos temprano todos los días. = We used to arrive early every day.

The first uses the preterite. The second uses the imperfect.

Mistake 5: Adding an English style “did”

English asks:

• Did you arrive?

Spanish simply changes the verb:

• ¿Llegaste?

Do not add an equivalent of did before the verb.

Mistake 6: Confusing llegar with llevar

These verbs look somewhat similar but have different meanings:

• llegar = to arrive
• llevar = to carry / to take / to have been doing something for a period

For example:

• Llegué a casa. = I arrived home.
• Llevé el libro a casa. = I took the book home.

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Key Grammar Rules

Rule 1: The preterite of llegar is regular except for the yo spelling change

The forms are:

llegué, llegaste, llegó, llegamos, llegasteis, llegaron

Rule 2: The yo form uses “gu”

Always remember:

llegar → llegué

The u keeps the hard g sound before e.

Rule 3: Keep the accent in llegué

Write:

llegué

not:

llegue

The accent is part of the correct preterite form.

Rule 4: Use the preterite for completed past arrivals

Example:

• Llegué a las ocho.
• I arrived at eight.

Rule 5: Use the imperfect for repeated or ongoing past situations

Example:

• Llegaba temprano todos los días.
• I used to arrive early every day.

Rule 6: Llegar commonly takes “a” before a destination

Examples:

• llegar a Madrid
• llegar a casa
• llegar a la estación

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Comparisons with Similar Grammar Forms

Llegué vs. llegaba

The biggest distinction for learners is between the preterite llegué and imperfect llegaba.

Llegué presents the arrival as a completed event:

• Llegué a las ocho.
• I arrived at eight.

Llegaba presents the action as habitual, ongoing, or background information:

• Llegaba a las ocho todos los días.
• I used to arrive at eight every day.

Llegó vs. llegaba

Compare:

• Ana llegó a las nueve.
• Ana arrived at nine.

This describes a specific completed arrival.

• Ana llegaba a las nueve todos los días.
• Ana used to arrive at nine every day.

This describes a repeated past routine.

Llegué vs. he llegado

These are also different.

Llegué is the preterite:

• Llegué ayer.
• I arrived yesterday.

He llegado is the present perfect:

• He llegado.
• I have arrived.

The present perfect connects the past action more directly with the present and is used differently across Spanish speaking regions.

Llegar vs. venir

These verbs are sometimes confused.

• llegar = to arrive
• venir = to come

Examples:

• Llegué a casa a las ocho.
  = I arrived home at eight.
• Vine a casa a las ocho.
  = I came home at eight.

The choice depends on the perspective and meaning of the sentence.

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Exercises

Exercise 1: Fill in the blanks

Complete each sentence with the correct preterite form of llegar.

1. Yo ________ temprano.
2. Tú ________ ayer.
3. María ________ a las ocho.
4. Nosotros ________ a Madrid el lunes.
5. Vosotros ________ tarde.
6. Ellos ________ después de la cena.

Exercise 2: Choose the correct form

1. Yo ___ a casa a las diez.

A. llegé
B. llegué
C. llegaste
D. llegaba

2. Ella ___ temprano ayer.

A. llegaste
B. llegaron
C. llegó
D. llegué

3. Nosotros ___ a la estación a las siete.

A. llegamos
B. llegáis
C. llegaron
D. llegábamos

4. Ellos ___ la semana pasada.

A. llegó
B. llegaste
C. llegaron
D. llegué

Exercise 3: Correct the mistakes

1. Yo llegé tarde.
2. Ella llegaste a las nueve.
3. Nosotros llegaron ayer.
4. ¿Llegasteis a tiempo?
5. Yo llegue a Madrid ayer.

Exercise 4: Preterite or imperfect?

Choose the correct form of llegar.

1. Ayer yo ________ a casa a las ocho.
   (llegué / llegaba)
2. Todos los días, él ________ temprano.
   (llegó / llegaba)
3. El tren ________ a las seis ayer.
   (llegó / llegaba)
4. Cuando yo ________ a casa, empezó a llover.
   (llegué / llegaba)
5. De niño, siempre ________ tarde a la escuela.
   (llegué / llegaba)

Exercise 5: Translate into Spanish

1. I arrived yesterday.
2. She arrived late.
3. We arrived at the airport.
4. Did you arrive on time?
5. They did not arrive early.
6. I used to arrive early every day.

Answer Key

Exercise 1

1. llegué
2. llegaste
3. llegó
4. llegamos
5. llegasteis
6. llegaron

Exercise 2

1. B. llegué
2. C. llegó
3. A. llegamos
4. C. llegaron

Exercise 3

1. Yo llegué tarde.
2. Ella llegó a las nueve.
3. Nosotros llegamos ayer.
4. ¿Llegasteis a tiempo?   This sentence is already correct.
5. Yo llegué a Madrid ayer.

Exercise 4

1. llegué
2. llegaba
3. llegó
4. llegaba
5. llegaba

Exercise 5

1. Llegué ayer.
2. Ella llegó tarde.
3. Llegamos al aeropuerto.
4. ¿Llegaste a tiempo?
5. No llegaron temprano.
6. Llegaba temprano todos los días.

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FAQs

What is the past tense of llegar?

The most common simple past form is the preterite. Its forms are llegué, llegaste, llegó, llegamos, llegasteis, llegaron.

What does llegué mean?

Llegué means “I arrived” or, depending on context, “I reached.”

Example:

• Llegué a casa. = I arrived home.

Is llegar regular in the preterite?

Yes. Llegar follows the regular  ar preterite endings, but the yo form has a spelling change: llegué.

Why is it llegué and not llegé?

The u is added before é to preserve the hard g sound before the letter e.

What is the yo form of llegar in the past tense?

The preterite yo form is:

llegué

Example:

• Llegué tarde.
• I arrived late.

What is the past participle of llegar?

The past participle is llegado.

Example:

• He llegado a casa.
• I have arrived home.

What is the imperfect tense of llegar?

The imperfect forms are:

llegaba, llegabas, llegaba, llegábamos, llegabais, llegaban

It is used for habitual, repeated, ongoing, or background actions in the past.

What is the difference between llegué and llegaba?

Llegué usually describes a completed past arrival, while llegaba can describe a habitual, ongoing, or background arrival.

How do you say “Did you arrive?” in Spanish?

You can say:

¿Llegaste?

Spanish does not need a separate word corresponding to English did.

Does llegar mean “to arrive” or “to reach”?

It can mean both, depending on context.

• Llegué a Madrid. = I arrived in Madrid.
• Llegué a la meta. = I reached the finish line.

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Conclusion

The Spanish past tense of llegar is easy to learn once you understand the difference between the preterite and imperfect. For a completed past arrival, the preterite forms are llegué, llegaste, llegó, llegamos, llegasteis, and llegaron. The most important spelling point is the yo form: llegué, not llegé.

Use the imperfect forms, such as llegaba and llegábamos, when talking about repeated, habitual, ongoing, or background situations in the past. Remember that llegar commonly uses a before a destination, as in llegué a Madrid or llegamos a la estación.

Practice both tenses with real situations such as arriving home, reaching a station, meeting friends, or getting to work. With regular practice, the forms of llegar will become natural and much easier to remember.