why is it "llega" instead of "llege" in the formal command of llegar?

Question

is it because llegar is irregular?

Thank you so much Nick Cortina! Very helpful information. - Tien-Min-Wang, AGO 8, 2009

Answer 1

Any verb that ends in -gar changes to -gue/-guen in the Ud./Uds. command form, in order to maintain the original pronunciation of the infinitive. The letter "g" in front of the vowels "a", "o", and "u" (hard vowels) create a hard sound; in front of "e" and "i" (soft vowels) it is pronounced with a soft sound (such as the g in "gente"). So, since the "g" in "llegar" is hard, you must use "-gue" or "-guen", for the Ud./Uds. command form, to maintain that hard sound. The "g" in "llege" would be soft, not hard like "lleGAR".

Thus: the tu command form of llegar is: "llega" (formed simply by using the el/ella/Ud. form of "llegar"), the Ud. form is "llegue", and the Uds. form is "lleguen."

Side Note: Verbs that end in "-car" change to "-que/quen" in the Ud./Uds. command form; verbs that end in "-zar", change to "-ce/cen" in the Ud./Uds. command form.

You might like to look at this link to practice/read more: http://studyspanish.com/verbs/lessons/formcomm.htm.

Answer 2

No llega tarde = He/she doesn't arrive late

No llegan tarde = They doesn't arrive late

No llegue tarde = Don't arrive late (?)

No lleguen tarde = Don't arrive late (?? )

Answer 3

but in the reference section it gave an example: "No llega/llegan tarde". Does that mean it should be "No llegue/lleguen" tarde instead of llega/llegan?

Tien-Min-Wan, it might be helpful to provide a link to the speciifc page you are confused about. - Fredbong, AGO 7, 2009

I looked at the page for formal commands, I believe you are right, it isn't written down correctly. - Fredbong, AGO 7, 2009

You also might wish to keep in mind that the familiar command changes for positive & negative commands: llega/ no llegues llegad/no lleguéis - 0074b507, AGO 7, 2009

Thank y'all so much. Now I understand. Thanks again for your help! - Tien-Min-Wang, AGO 8, 2009