Languages ›Spanish
Llamar Conjugation, Usage and Examples
Spanish
- Grammar
- Pronunciation
- Vocabulary
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By
Jocelly Meiners
Jocelly Meiners
Professor of Hispanic Linguistics
- Ph.D., Hispanic Linguistics, University of Texas at Austin
- M.A., French Linguistics, University of Texas at Austin
- B.A., French and Astronomy, University of Texas at Austin
Dr. Jocelly Meiners has taught language courses at the University of Texas at Austin since 2008. She holds a Ph.D. in Hispanic linguistics and an M.A. in French linguistics.
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Updated on February 01, 2019
The Spanish verbllamarmeans to call. It is a regular -ar verb, like buscar or parar. Below you can find tables for the conjugation ofllamar in the present, past and future indicative, the present and past subjunctive, as well as the imperative and other verb forms.
Llamar Meaning
The simple translation of llamar is to call, but depending on its usage, the meaning can vary slightly. For example, it can mean to call as in call someone to come to you,La madre llamó a los niños para la cena(The mother called the children for dinner), or it can mean to call on the phone,El doctor llamó a su paciente por teléfono(The doctor called his patient on the phone). In addition, it can sometimes be used to say that someone is at the door, knocking or ringing,Alguien llama a la puerta(Someone is at the door).
Another meaning of the verbllamaris to name something or someone. For example,Cuando lo adoptamos, llamamos al perroPopo(When we adopted it, we named the dog Popo). It can also mean to call someone or something by a certain name, as inSu nombre es Federico, pero lo llamamos Fede(His name is Federico, but we call him Fede).
Finally, llamarcan be used as a reflexive verb,llamarse,to talk about what someone's name is. To say "my name is Ana", you can sayMi nombre es Ana,but it is actually very common to sayMe llamo Ana(I am called Ana). For this reason, some people get confused and think thatllamomeans "name", but actually, when sayingme llamoyou are saying "I am called". When using the verb in this way, remember to include the reflexive pronoun before the conjugated verb.
One thing to keep in mind when using the verbllamaris how the double L is pronounced in Spanish. In English, the double L is pronounced just like you would pronounce a normal L. However, in Spanish when there are two L's together, they make a sound much like the English Y (as in yam), or often it sounds like the English J (as in Jack). There is quite a bit of variation in the pronunciation of the Spanish Ll depending on where the Spanish speaker is from.In some places of South America it even sounds like Sh (as in shark).
Llamar Present Indicative
Yo | llamo | I call | Yo llamo a mi madre por teléfono. |
Tú | llamas | You call | Tú llamas al niño para cenar. |
Usted/él/ella | llama | You/he/she calls | Ella llama a su abuela todas las semanas. |
Nosotros | llamamos | We call | Nosotros llamamos a la puerta. |
Vosotros | llamáis | You call | Vosotros llamáis profe a la profesora. |
Ustedes/ellos/ellas | llaman | You/they call | Ellos llaman a los bomberos por el incendio. |
Llamar PreteriteIndicative
In Spanish there are two forms of the past tense, the preterite and the imperfect. The preterite is used to talk about punctual events or events that have a defined ending in the past. Remember to include the accent mark on the last vowel of theyoandusted/él/ellaforms in the preterite.
Yo | llamé | I called | Yo llamé a mi madre por teléfono. |
Tú | llamaste | You called | Tú llamaste al niño para cenar. |
Usted/él/ella | llamó | You/he/she called | Ella llamó a su abuela todas las semanas. |
Nosotros | llamamos | We called | Nosotros llamamos a la puerta. |
Vosotros | llamasteis | You called | Vosotros llamasteis profe a la profesora. |
Ustedes/ellos/ellas | llamaron | You/they called | Ellos llamaron a los bomberos por el incendio. |
Llamar ImperfectIndicative
The imperfect tense is used to talk about background events, ongoing or habitual actions in the past. It can be translated to English as "was calling" or "used to call".
Yo | llamaba | I used to call | Yo llamaba a mi madre por teléfono. |
Tú | llamabas | You used to call | Tú llamabas al niño para cenar. |
Usted/él/ella | llamaba | You/he/she used to call | Ella llamaba a su abuela todas las semanas. |
Nosotros | llamábamos | We used to call | Nosotros llamábamos a la puerta. |
Vosotros | llamabais | You used to call | Vosotros llamabais profe a la profesora. |
Ustedes/ellos/ellas | llamaban | You/they used to call | Ellos llamaban a los bomberos por el incendio. |
Llamar FutureIndicative
Yo | llamaré | I will call | Yo llamaré a mi madre por teléfono. |
Tú | llamarás | You will call | Tú llamarás al niño para cenar. |
Usted/él/ella | llamarán | You/he/she will call | Ella llamará a su abuela todas las semanas. |
Nosotros | llamaremos | We will call | Nosotros llamaremos a la puerta. |
Vosotros | llamaréis | You will call | Vosotros llamaréis profe a la profesora. |
Ustedes/ellos/ellas | llamarán | You/they will call | Ellos llamarán a los bomberos por el incendio. |
Llamar Periphrastic FutureIndicative
Yo | voy a llamar | I am going to call | Yo voy a llamar a mi madre por teléfono. |
Tú | vas a llamar | You are going to call | Tú vas a llamar al niño para cenar. |
Usted/él/ella | va a llamar | You/he/she is going to call | Ella va a llamar a su abuela todas las semanas. |
Nosotros | vamos a llamar | We are going to call | Nosotros vamos a llamar a la puerta. |
Vosotros | vais a llamar | You are going to call | Vosotros vais a llamar profe a la profesora. |
Ustedes/ellos/ellas | van a llamar | You/they are going to call | Ellos van a llamar a los bomberos por el incendio. |
Llamar ConditionalIndicative
The conditionaltense is used to talk about possibilities or conjectures, to talk about things that would happen. For example,Si tuviera tiempo, llamaría a mi amiga(If I had time, I would call my friend). Note that the í in the conditional endings always carries an accent mark.
Yo | llamaría | I would call | Yo llamaría a mi madre por teléfono. |
Tú | llamarías | You would call | Tú llamarías al niño para cenar. |
Usted/él/ella | llamaría | You/he/she would call | Ella llamaría a su abuela todas las semanas. |
Nosotros | llamaríamos | We would call | Nosotros llamaríamos a la puerta. |
Vosotros | llamaríais | You would call | Vosotros llamaríais profe a la profesora. |
Ustedes/ellos/ellas | llamarían | You/they would call | Ellos llamarían a los bomberos por el incendio. |
Llamar Present Progressive/Gerund Form
In regular -ar verbs, you form the present participle or gerundwith the ending-ando. This verb form is used for several purposes, such as to form the progressive tenses, like the present progressive.
Present Progressive of Llamar
está llamando she is calling
Ella está llamando al niño para cenar.
Llamar Past Participle
The past participle for-arverbs is formed with the ending-ado.The past participle is used with an auxiliary verb to form compound tenses, such as the present perfect.
Present Perfect ofLlamar
ha llamado she has called
Ella ha llamado a su abuela.
Llamar Present Subjunctive
The subjunctive mood is used to talk about emotions, doubts, desires, possibilities, and other subjective situations. It is used in sentences with two clauses: the main clause contains a verb in the indicative mood, and the subordinate clause contains a verb in the subjunctive mood.
Que yo | llame | That I call | David quiere que yo llame a mi madre por teléfono. |
Que tú | llames | That you call | María quiere que tú llames al niño para cenar. |
Que usted/él/ella | llame | That you/he/she call | Esteban quiere que ella llame a su abuela todas las semanas. |
Que nosotros | llamemos | That we call | Carla quiere que nosotros llamemos a la puerta. |
Que vosotros | llaméis | That you call | Francisco quiere que vosotros llaméis profe a la profesora. |
Que ustedes/ellos/ellas | llamen | That you/they call | Diana quiere que ellos llamen a los bomberos por el incendio. |
Llamar ImperfectSubjunctive
The imperfect subjunctive is used similarly to the present subjunctive, but in situations that happened in the past. There are two options for conjugating the imperfect subjunctive, shown in the tables below.
Option 1
Que yo | llamara | That I called | David quería que yo llamara a mi madre por teléfono. |
Que tú | llamaras | That you called | María quería que tú llamaras al niño para cenar. |
Que usted/él/ella | llamara | That you/he/she called | Esteban quería que ella llamara a su abuela todas las semanas. |
Que nosotros | llamáramos | That we called | Carla quería que nosotros llamáramos a la puerta. |
Que vosotros | llamarais | That you called | Francisco quería que vosotros llamarais profe a la profesora. |
Que ustedes/ellos/ellas | llamaran | That you/they called | Diana quería que ellos llamaran a los bomberos por el incendio. |
Option 2
Que yo | llamase | That I called | David quería que yo llamase a mi madre por teléfono. |
Que tú | llamases | That you called | María quería que tú llamases al niño para cenar. |
Que usted/él/ella | llamase | That you/he/she called | Esteban quería que ella llamase a su abuela todas las semanas. |
Que nosotros | llamásemos | That we called | Carla quería que nosotros llamásemos a la puerta. |
Que vosotros | llamaseis | That you called | Francisco quería que vosotros llamaseis profe a la profesora. |
Que ustedes/ellos/ellas | llamasen | That you/they called | Diana quería que ellos llamasen a los bomberos por el incendio. |
Llamar Imperative
The imperative mood is used to give direct orders or commands. There are forms for all the persons except for those to whom you cannot give a direct command (first person singular yoand third person él, ella,ellos, ellas).When giving anegative command, add the adverbnobefore the command. Notice that the positive and negative commands are different fortúandvosotros.
Positive Commands
Tú | llama | Call! | ¡Llama al niño para cenar! |
Usted | llame | Call! | ¡Llame a su abuela todas las semanas! |
Nosotros | llamemos | Let's call! | ¡Llamemos a la puerta! |
Vosotros | llamad | Call! | ¡Llamad profe a la profesora! |
Ustedes | llamen | Call! | ¡Llamen a los bomberos! |
Negative Commands
Tú | no llames | Don't call! | ¡No llames al niño para cenar! |
Usted | no llame | Don't call! | ¡No llame a su abuela todas las semanas! |
Nosotros | no llamemos | Let's not call! | ¡No llamemos a la puerta! |
Vosotros | no llaméis | Don't call! | ¡No llaméis profe a la profesora! |
Ustedes | no llamen | Don't call! | ¡No llamen a los bomberos! |
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Your Citation
Meiners, Jocelly. "Spanish Verb Llamar Conjugation." ThoughtCo, Aug. 27, 2020, thoughtco.com/llamar-conjugation-in-spanish-4174248.Meiners, Jocelly. (2020, August 27). Spanish Verb Llamar Conjugation. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/llamar-conjugation-in-spanish-4174248Meiners, Jocelly. "Spanish Verb Llamar Conjugation." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/llamar-conjugation-in-spanish-4174248 (accessed February 1, 2023).
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FAQs
How do you conjugate llamarse in Spanish? ›
...
Mode: Indicative.
Personal Pronoun | Conjugation |
---|---|
Yo | me llamo |
Tu | te llamas |
El/Ella | se llama |
Nosotros | nos llamamos |
Basic Concepts for Verb Conjugation in Spanish language
To conjugate a verb in the present indicative, remove the infinitive ending from the regular verb, in this case -ar , -er or -ir, and replace it with an ending indicating "the person" who performs the action of the verb.
All these questions, despite being so different in English, require the same verb in Spanish: llamar (pronounced: yah-MAHR), which means 'to call', 'to knock' and 'to appeal'.
What kind of verb is llamar? ›Llamar is a Spanish regular ar verb meaning to call. Llamar appears on the 100 Most Used Spanish Verbs Poster as the 12nd most used regular ar verb. For the preterite tense conjugation, go to Llamar Preterite Tense Conjugation.
How do you conjugate llamar in the past tense? ›...
Llamar Conjugation: Preterite Tense.
yo | llamé |
---|---|
tú | llamaste |
él/ella | llamó |
nosotros/as | llamamos |
vosotros/as | llamasteis |
The verb “ser” (to be) is irregular and its form varies considerably depending on the subject (I, you, them, etc). “Llamarse” (literally to be called), on the other hand, is a regular verb, so if you know the word endings for regular verbs, you won't find much difficulty.
What is the infinitive form of Llamar? ›First things first: there are three classes of Spanish verbs: -ar verbs, -er verbs, and -ir verbs. These are the infinitive verb endings (or dictionary form of the verb).
What is the 2 verb rule in Spanish? ›When a sentence has two verbs, the first verb is conjugated and the second verb remains in the infinitive form. Puedo pagar diez pesos.
What is the rule for verbs in Spanish? ›In Spanish, all verb infinitives end in -ar, -er or -ir. The gerund of Spanish verbs is equivalent to the English -ing form. In Spanish the gerund ends in -ando or -iendo. The participle is equivalent to the English past participle (third form of the verb).
What is the best way to learn verb conjugations? ›
An effective way to study and learn these different conjugations is to use two stacks of flashcards simultaneously. One stack will consist of verbs, and the other stack will be the pronouns.
Is llamar a transitive verb? ›Llamar (a alguien) is a transitive verb - we consider that who you call is a direct object, therefore it needs "lo/la".
What language is llamar? ›llamar - translated from Spanish to English.
What is an example of llamarse? ›Llamarse is a reflexive verb, i.e. uses reflexive pronouns placed in front of the verb when it is conjugated, e.g. "me llamo, se llama, os llamáis...". It is as if we are saying "I call myself, she calls herself, you call yourselves..."
Is llamar a reflexive verb? ›Let´s look at a verb which can commonly be used in the reflexive manner – llamar, which means to call. This verb will possibly be familiar to you, as it is one of the first things you learn in Spanish, ie how to introduce yourself. Commonly, you will say me llamo….
What is the future perfect of Llamar? ›...
Mode: Indicative.
Personal Pronoun | Conjugation |
---|---|
Yo | habré llamado |
Tu | habrás llamado |
El/Ella | habrá llamado |
Nosotros | habremos llamado |
The conjugation of the verb Ser are:
Tú > Eres. Él/Ella/Usted > Es. Yo > Soy. Nosotros/Nosotras > Somos.
- To identify something or someone.
- To describe fundamental qualities and characteristics.
- To talk about nationality or place of origin.
- To speak about professions or occupations.
- To share a religious or political affiliation.
- To tell the hour, day, or date.
SER is used primarily in situations to imply permanence, equivalence, characteristics, origin, nature, identity and possession ("My apple IS bigger than his", "Quito IS in Ecuador", "Ice IS cold", "He IS French", "This car IS mine". SER is an irregular verb.
What reflexive pronoun do you use before Llamar? ›The verb llamar means “to call.” But often, you will see the reflexive verb llamarse when using names in Spanish.
What are the 7 most used verbs in Spanish? ›
- 1 está (is at a place / is feeling)
- 2 hay (there is / there are)
- 3 tiene (has)
- 4 es (is)
- 5 le gusta (likes / is pleasing to)
- 6 va (goes / is going)
- 7 quiere (wants)
To be verb conjugation
In English, we have six different persons: first person singular (I), second person singular (you), third person singular (he/she/it/one), first person plural (we), second person plural (you), and third person plural (they).
...
The irregular verb to go conjugated into the future tense:
- I will go.
- You (singular) will go.
- He/she/it/John/Jane will go.
- We will go.
- You (plural) will.
- They/John & Jane will go.
- Will we go?
- You will not go.
The modern Spanish verb paradigm (conjugation) has 16 distinct complete forms (tenses), i.e. sets of forms for each combination of tense, mood and aspect, plus one incomplete tense (the imperative), as well as three non-temporal forms (the infinitive, gerund, and past participle).
How do you use two verbs in a sentence? ›- Example: She pretended to be his friend, but she didn't hesitate to make fun of him behind his back.
- Example: Many adults would like to stop smoking, but they postpone doing that for various reasons.
Ser and Estar
One of the hardest Spanish grammar concepts to grasp for learners of the language is the use of the verbs ser and estar. Both verbs translate as “to be” and native English speakers find it really hard to know when to use which.
Every proper sentence in Spanish must have a subject and a verb. There is also a proper place for subjects and verbs in a sentence. Begin a sentence with the subject (the person, place, or thing you're talking about). Follow that with the verb, and then the rest of the sentence (where, how, etc).
What are the 4 conjugations? ›- The Present Indicative (amō), showing the Present Stem.
- The Present Infinitive (amā-re), showing the Present Stem.
- The Perfect Indicative (amāv-ī), showing the Perfect Stem.
- The neuter of the Perfect Participle (amāt-um), or, if that form is not in use, the Future Active Participle (amāt-ūrus), showing the Supine Stem.
If you start out as a beginner and manage to spend an average of 1 hour per day working on your Spanish, you should be able to reach conversational fluency within 8 – 12 months. That translates to about 250 – 350 hours spent. But remember that consistency is key here.
How many words do most Spanish speakers know? ›5,000 words constitute the active vocabulary of native speakers without higher education. 10,000 words constitute the active vocabulary of native speakers with higher education.
How many words do you need to know to become fluent in Spanish? ›
If you think about native-level fluency, you'll need to master between 20,000 and 40,000 words, and as you can see the margin is quite large. If you want to have a basic conversation, experts say that you'll just need around 3,000 words.
What is the fastest time to become fluent in a language? ›True language fluency requires consistent effort and time, and while 500 – 1,000 hours may seem like a lot, a typical person could probably invest that level of time over 12 – 18 months, with the right study schedule.
What is the easiest word to learn in Spanish? ›- Hola – hello.
- Adiós – goodbye.
- Por favor – please.
- Gracias – thank you.
- Lo siento – sorry.
- Salud – bless you (after someone sneezes)
- Sí – yes.
- No – no.
yo | llamé |
---|---|
tú | llamaste |
él/ella | llamó |
nosotros/as | llamamos |
vosotros/as | llamasteis |
Llamar in the Indicative Future
The Indicative Future of llamar is used to talk about something that will happen in the future. For example, "llamaré a mis amigos", meaning "I will call my friends".
You can identify reflexive verbs by paying attention to the verb ending, which always include the reflexive pronoun “se” at the end of a verb when in the infinitive form (for example: Conocerse – to know each other).
What are the 10 examples of reflexive pronoun? ›Reflexive pronouns are words like myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves and themselves.
How do you know when to conjugate a reflexive verb? ›Reflexive verbs are always conjugated with the reflexive pronoun that agrees with the subject: me (myself), te (yourself), se (himself, herself, itself, themselves), nous (ourselves), and vous (yourself, yourselves). These pronouns generally precede the verb.
What is the present subjunctive form of Llamar? ›...
Mode: Subjunctive.
Personal Pronoun | Conjugation |
---|---|
Tu | llames |
El/Ella | llame |
Nosotros | llamemos |
Vosotros | llaméis |
Using the chart below you can learn how to conjugate the Spanish verb llamarse in Imperfect tense.
What are 5 sentences of future tense? ›
- She'll write the e-mail after lunch.
- Don't lift that. You'll hurt yourself.
- You dropped your purse. ...
- I'll see you tomorrow.
- You'll get the answer by post.
- Dan's going to take the order over to the customer.
- The girls are going to sing 'Amazing Grace' now.
- I'll drive you to your lesson at 4 pm.