What is the difference between venir vs llegar? Although venir is typically translated as “to come” and llegar as “to arrive” or “to get there”, the Spanish verbs have a wider range of meanings. These two verbs are not exactly interchangeable, but there are situations in which both verbs venir and llegar can be used according to SpanishDict. For example, when both verbs mean “to come.” To make it easier to understand, here are a few things you should keep in mind:

Llegar is usually used in situations where the speaker is either at the destination or on his/her way. In this case, it’s more about the idea of arriving at a destination. In a nutshell, llegar is about arriving somewhere. You should use llegar a together with the verb ser (to be) or another infinite verb to express that idea.

Tip: If you’ve been to an airport in a Spanish-speaking country, have you noticed how you say “Arrivals” in Spanish? Answer: Llegadas.

Venir is usually used in situations where the speaker is already at the destination. If you think about venir as “to come”, then it’s easier to understand the difference between llegar (“to arrive”) and venir in Spanish.

Let’s see a few examples that can help you understand these two verbs:

• ¿Ya vienes? – Are you on your way here?
• ¿Ya vas llegando? – Are you almost here?

To this, you can answer:

• Ya voy. – I’m coming.
• Ya estoy llegando. – I’m almost there.

Venir and llegar in Spanish

At some point, it will intuitively make sense how to use venir and llegar, and you’ll end up speaking Spanish like a native. And yes, in some cases both of them work. It’s simply about which one of them makes more sense in the context and sentence. In a way, this pair of verbs is similar to another one, contestar vs. responder in Spanish. Let’s take some examples of venir and llegar:

• Cuando yo vine a España fui a Barcelona – When I came to Spain, I went to Barcelona.
• Tenía sólo un año cuando vino desde México. – He was only a year old when he came from Mexico.
• No vienen hasta las 16.30. – They aren’t coming until 4:30 p.m.
• Por fin llegamos a París. – We finally arrived to Paris.
• Llegaron de diferentes partes de Italia. – They came from different parts of Italy.
• Ya llega el invierno. – Winter has already arrived.

Write down in the comment section your own sentences with venir and llegar. If you have any questions or would like to take Spanish lesson, book a free consultation with me. 🫶