Llevar Conjugation 101: Conjugate Llevar & Uses in Spanish

Llevar conjugation patterns are a great way to practice regular -AR verbs. Additionally, this verb has multiple daily life applications that can help you improve your fluency. So, in this guide, you’ll learn how to conjugate llevar in Spanish. Here is what we’ll cover:

• Llevar Overview
• Indicative Tenses of Llevar Conjugations
  • Present tense
  • Preterite tense
  • Imperfect tense
  • Near Future tense
  • Future tense
  • Conditional tense
  • Present Perfect tense
  • Past Perfect tense
  • Future Perfect tense
  • Conditional Perfect tense
  • Progressive tenses
• Subjunctive Tenses of Llevar Conjugations 
  • Present Subjunctive tense
  • Present Perfect Subjunctive tense
  • Imperfect Subjunctive tense
  • Past Perfect Subjunctive tense
• Imperative (Commands) of Llevar Conjugations
  • Affirmative Commands
  • Negative Commands
• Uses & Examples
• Download Llevar Conjugation Tables & Uses Cheat sheets
• Llevar Conjugation Practice Quiz

Overview of Llevar

In Spanish, llevar means ‘to take’, ‘to carry’, ‘to wear’, among other applications. The conjugations charts below only have one translation to keep the tables as organized as possible. You can learn more about the meanings of ‘llevar’ in the section

Indicative Conjugations of Llevar

Present tense

The present tense conjugations of llevar are regular. Use this conjugation to talk about the people or things you carry or take to a place. For instance: Siempre llevo un cepillo en mi bolsa. 

Preterite tense

The past preterite conjugations of llevar refer to the people or things someone else carried or took at a specific moment in the past. For example: Alicia llevó las cajas a la cochera.

Imperfect tense

When conjugated to the past imperfect tense, llevar is used to talk about people you used to take somewhere repeatedly in the past. For example: Mi papá siempre nos llevaba a la escuela.

Near future

The near future of ‘llevar’ communicates that a person is planning to carry something or taking someone to another place. For instance: Voy a llevar estas cajas a tu cuarto. These conjugations of ‘llevar’ are formed withir (present tense) + a + llevar and can be translated as “going to take”.

Future simple tense

Llevar future conjugations communicate that someone will carry something or take someone somewhere at some point in the future. For example: Llevaré el paquete a la oficina.

Conditional tense

Use the conditional forms of ‘llevar’ to say that a person would take something or someone to a place if some circumstances are met. Si me dejaran, me llevaría a mi perro conmigo. 

Present perfect tense

Haber in the present tense + llevado (past participle) is the formula of the Spanish present perfect tense. These conjugations communicate that someone has or hasn’t taken something to another place. For instance: ¿Todavía no te has llevado tus cosas?

Past perfect

Llevar conjugated to the past perfect tense expresses that someone had taken something or someone to a place before some other reference point in the past. Dijiste que habías llevado a tu hermano al parque. To form the past perfect, use the imperfect form of ‘haber’ and the past participle form of ‘llevar’.

Future perfect

Llevar conjugated to the future perfect tense expresses that someone will have taken or carried something by or before a certain time in the future. These conjugations are also used to express that someone might have taken something. For instance: Mañana me habré llevado mis cosas.

Conditional perfect

The conditional perfect conjugations of llevar are used to convey that someone would have taken another person to a place or carried something if a past condition had been met. For instance: Si hubiera tenido dinero, te habría llevado al concierto.

Progressive tenses

Use the progressive tenses of llevar to say that someone is taking a person or thing to another place at the moment of speaking. Or, in the case of past forms (preterite and imperfect), to communicate that a past action was in progress when you carried something. For example: Paco está llevando las cajas a la cochera.

Spanish progressive tenses are conjugated by using the formula estar + present participle of llevar.

Llevar Subjunctive Conjugations

In Spanish, the subjunctive is used to talk about wishes, hypothetical situations or express uncertainty. The conjugation charts below show the subjunctive forms of llevar. 

Present subjunctive

Llevar subjunctive conjugations refer to a person’s current wishes or requests about taking something or someone to a place. For instance: Ellos quieren que lleve el carro al mecánico.

Present perfect subjunctive

Haber in the present subjunctive + llevado is the formula to build the present perfect subjunctive of ‘llevar’. When using this tense, ‘llevar’ allows you to wonder or wish that someone has already carried or taken something to another place. Espero que ya te hayas llevado tus cosas. 

Imperfect subjunctive

Use the imperfect subjunctive conjugations of ‘llevar’ to talk about past requests, suggestions, wishes you or someone else had about taking or carrying something to another place. Martha me pidió que llevara sus cosas al coche. 

The imperfect subjunctive has two conjugation models depending on which type of Spanish you’re using:

Latin American Spanish version

Note: The table above doesn’t include the conjugation for vosotros because this pronoun is not used in Latin American Spanish.

Castilian Spanish version

Past perfect subjunctive

In the past perfect subjunctive, llevar conveys that someone or something would have taken or carried something to somewhere if a past circumstance was met. You can also use these conjugations to express regrets or hypothetical outcomes if you had taken or carried something.

For example: Si me hubieras llevado, habría llegado temprano.

Llevar Imperative Conjugations

The Spanish imperative mood has the conjugations you use to give commands.

Affirmative commands

The affirmative imperative of ‘llegar’ is used to order people to take someone or something to another place. For example: Lleven su ropa sucia a la lavadora.

Negative commands

To command people to not take or carry something to another location, use negative commands. For instance: No te lleves el carro hoy.

Meanings of Llevar & Examples

Now that you’ve learned how to conjugate llevar in Spanish, you should check the following examples to get familiar with the most common uses of this verb. 

1. Talk about taking someone or something to another place

[Llevar conjugated] + [noun] + a + [place]

Lleven estas bolsas a la cocina. 
Take these bags to the kitchen. 

[Llevar conjugated] + a + [person] + [place]

Julie quiere que lleves a las niñas a la escuela. 
Julie wants you to take the girls to school. 

Take Note: When the context is clear, you can use Spanish direct object pronouns to replace the thing or person you’re talking about. 

2. Talk about the duration of an action

[Llevar conjugated] + [present participle]

¿Cuánto llevas esperando?
How long have you been waiting?

Take Note: People often think that Spanish present participles can only be used to form the present progressive. However, these participles can be combined with other verbs to deliver different meanings. 

3. Express age gaps and amounts 

[Indirect object pronoun] + [llevar conjugated] + (number) + [infinitive]

Nos llevó dos horas terminar este proyecto. 
It took us two hours to finish this project.  

When referring to amounts, llevar can also be used to express the age gap between a person: 

[Indirect object pronoun] + [llevar conjugated] + (number)

Mi hermano me lleva un año. 
My brother is one year older than me. 

4. Ask and talk about the ingredients in a dish

[Llevar conjugated] + [noun] 

¿Qué lleva la ensalada?
What’s in the salad? 

5. Express consequences 

[Llevar conjugated] + a + (consequence)

Esto nos llevó a tomar otras medidas. 
This led us to take other measures. 

6. Describe clothing and accessories someone is wearing

[Llevar conjugated] + [article] + [noun]

Creo que Sandra llevaba una camisa roja. 
I think Sandra was wearing a red shirt. 

7. Talk about how well or bad people get along with others

[Reflexive pronoun] + [llevar conjugated] + (bien/mal)

Sally y yo nos llevamos mal. 
Sally and I don’t get along well. 

Take Note: In this context, adverbs of manner can help you describe how well or how badly you get along with others.

Download Llevar Conjugation Tables & Uses Cheat sheets

Llevar is a highly dynamic verb with many different meanings and uses in Spanish. I’ve created a PDF you can download with all the llevar conjugation tables as well as meanings and uses.

Download Conjugations & Meanings PDF

Practice Quiz: Llevar Conjugation

Now that you’ve learned how to conjugate llevar in Spanish, you can put your knowledge to the test by taking this llevar conjugation practice quiz, full for all its tenses.