chegar a + Infinitive
Even Managing to: Chegar a
Chegar a + infinitive tells you that something went as far as a surprising point, or that an action was really achieved: Chegou a chorar (she even cried).
How It Works
The pattern
Conjugated chegar + a + infinitive: chego a, chegas a, chegou a, cheguei a... The meaning of arriving fades, and the phrase adds the idea of reaching a limit.
Two main uses
- Reaching an extreme. Something happened that is surprising or goes further than expected: Chegou a chorar de tanto rir (she laughed so much that she even cried), Cheguei a pensar que non viñas (I even started to think you were not coming).
- Achieving a result. The action really reached its goal: Chegou a ser alcaldesa (she went on to become mayor), Chegamos a ter trinta vacas (at one point we had as many as thirty cows).
With non: it never quite happened. Non cheguei a velo (I never got to see him), Non chegou a casar (he never actually got married). This is useful for things that were planned or nearly happened. The pronoun goes before chegar because of the negative, or after the infinitive: Non o cheguei a ver or Non cheguei a velo (see pronouns in verb phrases).
Keep the a. Chegar also takes a before a place, as in Chegou a Vigo (he arrived in Vigo). Before an infinitive the a is just as necessary and is never dropped.
Spelling. Chegar is a regular -ar verb, but it writes gu before e: cheguei, chegue (see spelling changes in verbs).
Examples (6)
- Chegou a chorar de tanto rir.
She laughed so much that she even cried.
Word by Word: She-arrived to cry from so-much laugh.
Chegar a marks the surprising extreme that the laughing reached.
- Non cheguei a velo antes de que marchase.
I never got to see him before he left.
Non chegar a says the action was expected but never happened. Velo is ver + o after -r.
- Cheguei a pensar que non viñas.
I even started to think you were not coming.
The speaker went as far as this thought, which turned out to be wrong.
- A miña avoa chegou a ser alcaldesa da vila.
My grandmother went on to become mayor of the town.
Chegar a ser describes reaching a position.
- Nesta casa chegamos a ter trinta vacas.
At one point we had as many as thirty cows on this farm.
The number is presented as a high point that was actually reached.
- O proxecto nunca se chegou a realizar.
The project was never actually carried out.
Nunca pulls the pronoun se before chegou, the first verb of the phrase.
Common Mistakes
Dropping the preposition a.
Chegou chorar diante de todos.Chegou a chorar diante de todos.This verb phrase always has a between chegar and the infinitive.
Writing g instead of gu before e.
Non chegei a velo.Non cheguei a velo.Before e, the hard g sound of chegar is written gu: cheguei, chegue, cheguemos.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Chegar a with an infinitive presents reaching the point of an action or failing to reach it.
Related Patterns
- comezar a / poñerse aStarting Actions
Another phrase built with verb + a + infinitive, which looks at the start of an action instead of its high point.
Level 3 - estar a piques deAbout to: Estar a Piques De
Describes an action that is about to happen, while non chegar a says it never actually happened.
Level 3 - dar en + InfinitiveTaking to Doing: Dar En
Another phrase that adds a special nuance to the infinitive, for taking up a habit.
Level 6 - Pronouns in Verb Phrases
Explains where a pronoun goes in chegar a + infinitive: non o cheguei a ver or non cheguei a velo.
Level 4 - nin sequeraNot Even: Nin Sequera
Often appears near chegar a to stress that something did not even happen.
Level 4
Words in This Pattern
Practice chegar a + Infinitive in Bubblegum
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