llegar

Meaning

(intransitive) to arrive, get (to)
(intransitive) to get up to, to go up to, to reach (+ a or + hasta)
(intransitive) to be sufficient; to be enough
(intransitive) to manage (be successful)

arrive

come

reach

get

come in

manage

succeed

pass

come over

draw in

come up

get to

make

come about

end up

happen

occur

accord

administer

afford

alight

allow

confer

donate

emerge

exit

give

go out

grant

impart

leave

provide

quit

spare

spend

switch on

turn on

yield

be enough

bring up

draw up

land

arrive here

come here

get done

appeal to

advance

return

come across

access

get at

get in

pull in

move in

progress to

here

become

accomplish

achieve

arrive at

attain

catch

encounter

find

hit

run across

run up against

score

strike

guts

tear

progress

Frequency

Hyphenated as

lle‧gar

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ʝeˈɡaɾ/

Inherited from Latin plicāre (“to fold”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- (“to plait, to weave”). The semantic shift over time from "to fold" is also found in some other Romance cognates, and may be linked to the idea of folding sails when arriving at a port, especially in Iberian Romance where naval tradition was strong. Compare Portuguese chegar; however compare also Romanian pleca (“to leave”), with the opposite meaning, possibly because there the word was associated with folding up tents and leaving. See also the Spanish doublet plegar (“to fold”). Another theory instead derives llegar from a Vulgar Latin plicāre as a regressive derivation from Classical Latin applicāre (“apply, add, attach, join to”). Cognate with English ply.