Llegar vs Venir – To Arrive vs Come

Use llegar to talk about reaching a destination or place, often with an emphasis on the act of arrival. The destination can be physical or figurative, and the sentence usually names where or when someone arrived.

Use venir to highlight movement toward the speaker or toward a defined reference point. Venir frames arrival from the perspective of where the listener or narrator is located, and it can also signal approach in time or attention.

Use llegar when focusing on reaching a place and use venir when focusing on movement toward the speaker or reference point. The choice changes the sentence’s viewpoint, so think about whose position matters in the event.

Llegar marks arrival at a destination and venir marks movement toward the speaker or point of reference. Choose based on whether you want to highlight reaching a place llegar or approach toward you or another anchor venir.