Arrive vs. to get here/there
I want to teach this to my English students because I find it rather frustrating that "arrive" is generally the definition given for "llegar" despite the fact that the word "arrive" is not that commonly used in English by most people. The word is even on lists of "100 Most Used Verbs in English" and it's barely in my everyday vocabulary. Everyone understands it but I just don't think that we say it that often in conversation.
Ha llegado la primavera. = Spring is here.
"Spring has arrived." is correct but not as common.
¿Ya llegamos? = Are we there yet?
"Have we arrived yet?" is correct but not at all common.
¿Llegué a las siete? = I got there at seven. or, depending on the context: I got here at seven.
"I arrived at seven." is correct but not as common.
Lo siento que llego tarde. = I'm sorry; I'm late.
"I'm sorry that I arrived late." is correct but not at all common
Llegaré pronto. = I'll be there soon.
"I'll arrive soon." is correct but not at all common.
El autobús llega a las ocho. = The bus gets here at eight.
"The bus arrives at eight." is correct and maybe equally as common.
Llegué a casa a las dos. = I got home at two.
"I arrived at home at two." is correct but not at all common
Por fin llegué. = I finally made it. or: I finally got here.
"I finally arrived" is correct but not as common.
Do you know of any other ways that we say "llegar" in English in the context of "to arrive"? Are there situations where you would be more likely to say "arrive"? Is it just in the U.S. that we don't say "arrive" often? Is it just me? Do you agree with the above examples?
Thanks for you input.
5 Answers
Interesting! I agree that one could replace "to arrive" by "to come", "to get there", "to show up", etc, in most cases, though it does sound rather more informal. I'm quite sure you would arrive at an important meeting. I think it may also be more natural to use "arrive" for llegar when the subject in transit is non-human. A package can arrive late, a train will arrive in the station. Finally, arrive is useful to indicate the actual act of appearing at the destination, for instance: Disaster struck just as the guests were arriving.
Edit: Also, contrast:
"The hardest part for her was arriving at her father's house."
"The hardest part for her was getting to her father's house."
Mi vuelo llega a las 7:00. - My flight arrives at 7:00. Este paquete llegó esta mañana. - This parcel arrived this morning.
Alba3, this is a great question, and I totally agree with you. Hideaway has hit the nail on the head that we tend to use "arrive" in the context of transportation arriving (planes, trains, buses) or a package arriving. I agree that, at least in the US, everyone understands "arrive" for people's comings and goings, but we use "get there" or "get here" when we are talking about people arriving.
Teaching "llegar" as meaning both "to arrive" and "to get there/here" no matter whether we are teaching English as a second language or Spanish as a second language makes a lot of sense.
If I were asking: ¿A qué hora llega tu vuelo? I'd say: What time does your flight come in?
If it were a business related discussion, I (emphasis added on I) would definitely use arrive. I might use 'get in' or 'come in' in a more casual situation. Similar to what Limes is saying.
If I were asking: ¿A qué hora llega tu vuelo? I'd say: What time does your flight come in?
Mi vuelo llega a las 7:00. My flight comes in at 7:00. My flight gets in at 7:00.
But I do agree that "arrive" could be used instead, ecspecially in the case of arrivals of buses, trains, and planes.
