Legar Conjugation in Spanish
The Spanish verb legar means to bequeath, and it is a verb you will use again and again once you know it. Legar is a spelling-changing -ar (g → gu before e) verb, so the tables below show you exactly how it behaves in every tense. It has a spelling change (g → gu before e), which keeps the pronunciation of the stem the same when the ending changes. On this page you will find the full conjugation of legar in all thirteen tenses, notes on when to use each one, example sentences, the mistakes learners make most often, a ten-question quiz and answers to the questions students ask about this verb. For example, in the present tense you say Yo lego su casa a sus hijos — "I bequeath his house to his children" — and in the preterite you say Yo legué sus libros a la biblioteca — "I bequeathed his books to the library". Work through the tables below, read the notes for each tense, and then test yourself with the examples, the common mistakes and the quiz at the end of the page.
Quick facts
- Infinitive: legar
- English: to bequeath
- Verb type: spelling-changing -ar (g → gu before e) verb
- Ending: -ar
- Gerund: legando
- Past participle: legado
- Auxiliary verb: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + legado)
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for legar, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from the verified conjugation tables for legar. The imperfect subjunctive is shown in its -ra forms; the -se forms use the same stem. For reflexive verbs, the pronoun column shows the reflexive pronoun that goes before each form.
Gerund: legando · Past participle: legado
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | lego |
| tú | legas |
| él/ella/Ud. | lega |
| nosotros/as | legamos |
| vosotros/as | legáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | legan |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | legué |
| tú | legaste |
| él/ella/Ud. | legó |
| nosotros/as | legamos |
| vosotros/as | legasteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | legaron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | legaba |
| tú | legabas |
| él/ella/Ud. | legaba |
| nosotros/as | legábamos |
| vosotros/as | legabais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | legaban |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | legaré |
| tú | legarás |
| él/ella/Ud. | legará |
| nosotros/as | legaremos |
| vosotros/as | legaréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | legarán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | legaría |
| tú | legarías |
| él/ella/Ud. | legaría |
| nosotros/as | legaríamos |
| vosotros/as | legaríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | legarían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he legado |
| tú | has legado |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha legado |
| nosotros/as | hemos legado |
| vosotros/as | habéis legado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han legado |
Pluperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había legado |
| tú | habías legado |
| él/ella/Ud. | había legado |
| nosotros/as | habíamos legado |
| vosotros/as | habíais legado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían legado |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré legado |
| tú | habrás legado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá legado |
| nosotros/as | habremos legado |
| vosotros/as | habréis legado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán legado |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría legado |
| tú | habrías legado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría legado |
| nosotros/as | habríamos legado |
| vosotros/as | habríais legado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían legado |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | legue |
| tú | legues |
| él/ella/Ud. | legue |
| nosotros/as | leguemos |
| vosotros/as | leguéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | leguen |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | legara |
| tú | legaras |
| él/ella/Ud. | legara |
| nosotros/as | legáramos |
| vosotros/as | legarais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | legaran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | lega |
| él/ella/Ud. | legue |
| nosotros/as | leguemos |
| vosotros/as | legad |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | leguen |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | legues |
| él/ella/Ud. | legue |
| nosotros/as | leguemos |
| vosotros/as | leguéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | leguen |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Gerund | legando | with estar for the progressive: estoy legando |
| Past participle | legado | with haber for the perfect tenses: he legado |
How to use each tense
Present indicative
Use the present for routines, general facts and what is happening right now. It is the tense you will use most often in everyday conversation, for habits with words like todos los días and for statements that are true in general. For legar, the present indicative looks like this in a real sentence: Yo lego sus libros a la biblioteca — "I bequeath his books to the library". Learn the present indicative forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.
Preterite
Use the preterite for finished actions in the past — things that started and ended, often with time words like ayer, anoche or la semana pasada. The preterite moves a story forward, one completed event at a time. For legar, the preterite looks like this in a real sentence: Yo legué una fortuna — "I bequeathed a fortune". Learn the preterite forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense. Spelling change in the preterite: the yo form is legué (g → gu before e), so the sound of the stem stays the same.
Imperfect
Use the imperfect for background, habits and actions in progress in the past, often with words like antes, de niño or mientras. It describes how things used to be, not one finished event. For legar, the imperfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo legaba su casa a sus hijos — "I used to bequeath his house to his children". Learn the imperfect forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.
Future
Use the future for plans, predictions and promises, often with mañana, el año que viene or pronto. It talks about what will happen, not what is happening now. For legar, the future looks like this in a real sentence: Yo legaré sus libros a la biblioteca — "I will bequeath his books to the library". Learn the future forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.
Conditional
Use the conditional for polite requests, hypotheticals and what would happen, often in si clauses. It softens a request and describes imagined situations. For legar, the conditional looks like this in a real sentence: Yo legaría una fortuna — "I would bequeath a fortune". Learn the conditional forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.
Present perfect
Use the present perfect for recent actions and experiences, often with hoy, esta semana or ya. It connects the past with the present moment. For legar, the present perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo he legado su casa a sus hijos — "I have bequeathed his house to his children". Learn the present perfect forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.
Pluperfect
Use the pluperfect when one past action happened before another past action. It is the past of the past, and it usually appears with antes de or ya. For legar, the pluperfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo había legado sus libros a la biblioteca — "I had bequeathed his books to the library". Learn the pluperfect forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.
Future perfect
Use the future perfect for something that will already be finished by a future time, often with para mañana or para el viernes. For legar, the future perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo habré legado una fortuna — "I will have bequeathed a fortune". Learn the future perfect forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.
Conditional perfect
Use the conditional perfect for what would have happened under different conditions. It looks back at a past that never happened. For legar, the conditional perfect looks like this in a real sentence: Yo habría legado su casa a sus hijos — "I would have bequeathed his house to his children". Learn the conditional perfect forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.
Present subjunctive
Use the present subjunctive after expressions of wish, doubt, emotion and hope, such as espero que or quiero que. The subjunctive does not state a fact; it states an attitude towards the action. For legar, the present subjunctive looks like this in a real sentence: Espero que él legue sus libros a la biblioteca — "I hope he bequeaths his books to the library". Learn the present subjunctive forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense. The subjunctive keeps the spelling change: legue, legues, legue all show g → gu before e, just like the preterite yo form.
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
Use the imperfect subjunctive after past wishes and in si clauses about the past, and note the -ra forms shown here; the -se forms use the same stem. For legar, the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) looks like this in a real sentence: Si yo legara una fortuna, todo cambiaría — "If I bequeathed a fortune, everything would change". Learn the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.
Imperative (affirmative)
Use the affirmative imperative for direct commands, instructions and invitations. It tells someone to do something, and it has no yo form. For legar, the imperative (affirmative) looks like this in a real sentence: Legue su casa a sus hijos — "Let him bequeath his house to his children". Learn the imperative (affirmative) forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.
Imperative (negative)
Use the negative imperative, always with no, to tell someone not to do something. It uses the subjunctive forms, so it looks different from the affirmative commands. For legar, the imperative (negative) looks like this in a real sentence: No legues sus libros a la biblioteca — "Don't bequeath his books to the library". Learn the imperative (negative) forms in the table above alongside this example, and notice how the ending, not the stem, usually carries the meaning of the tense.
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with legar, covering different tenses and persons. Each one uses a form from the tables above.
- Yo lego una fortuna — "I bequeath a fortune"
- Él lega su casa a sus hijos — "He bequeaths his house to his children"
- Yo legué sus libros a la biblioteca — "I bequeathed his books to the library"
- Yo legaba una fortuna — "I used to bequeath a fortune"
- Tú legarás su casa a sus hijos — "You will bequeath his house to his children"
- Yo legaría sus libros a la biblioteca — "I would bequeath his books to the library"
- Él ha legado una fortuna — "He has bequeathed a fortune"
- Espero que él legue su casa a sus hijos — "I hope he bequeaths his house to his children"
- Yo había legado sus libros a la biblioteca — "I had bequeathed his books to the library"
- Ellos legaban una fortuna — "They used to bequeath a fortune"
Common mistakes
- Wrong: Ellos lega su casa a sus hijos — Right: Ellos legan su casa a sus hijos — Ellos needs the ellos form legan. The singular lega belongs with él, ella or a singular noun.
- Wrong: Ayer, yo lego — Right: Ayer, yo legué — The present tense cannot describe a finished action yesterday. Ayer forces the preterite, so the form must change to legué, with the spelling change g → gu before e.
- Wrong: De niño, yo legué todos los días. — Right: Todos los días, yo legaba — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (legaba), not the preterite. The preterite (legué) is for one finished action.
- Wrong: Yo soy legado sus libros a la biblioteca. — Right: Yo he legado sus libros a la biblioteca. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he legado, has legado, ha legado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
- Wrong: Espero que él lega su casa a sus hijos. — Right: Espero que él legue su casa a sus hijos. — After espero que, Spanish needs the subjunctive: legue. The indicative lega is wrong here.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on legar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
Complete the sentence: Yo ___ su casa a sus hijos. (present tense) A. habrán legado B. legaremos C. lego D. has legado
Complete the sentence: Él ___ su casa a sus hijos. (preterite) A. legaremos B. había legado C. legó D. legarías
Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ su casa a sus hijos. (imperfect) A. legaron B. legábamos C. legas D. legamos
Complete the sentence: Tú ___ su casa a sus hijos. (future) A. legarás B. habíamos legado C. legaríais D. habremos legado
Complete the sentence: Yo ___ su casa a sus hijos. (conditional) A. habías legado B. has legado C. han legado D. legaría
Complete the sentence: Espero que él ___ su casa a sus hijos. (present subjunctive) A. han legado B. legue C. leguéis D. has legado
Complete the sentence: Si yo ___ su casa a sus hijos, todo cambiaría. (imperfect subjunctive, -ra form) A. había legado B. legara C. habríais legado D. legó
Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ su casa a sus hijos. (present perfect) A. legues B. legabais C. hemos legado D. habría legado
Complete the command: No ___ su casa a sus hijos. (negative imperative, tú) A. leguen B. legues C. leguéis D. leguemos
Which is the gerund of legar, used with estar for the progressive? A. legado B. legué C. legando D. legaba
Answer key
- lego — The yo present tense of legar is lego.
- legó — The él/ella/Ud. preterite of legar is legó.
- legábamos — The nosotros/as imperfect of legar is legábamos.
- legarás — The tú future of legar is legarás.
- legaría — The yo conditional of legar is legaría.
- legue — The él/ella/Ud. present subjunctive of legar is legue.
- legara — The yo imperfect subjunctive, -ra form of legar is legara.
- hemos legado — The nosotros/as present perfect of legar is hemos legado.
- legues — The negative tú imperative uses the present subjunctive form with no before it: legues.
- legando — The gerund of legar is legando: estoy legando. The participle legado is used with haber instead.
Frequently asked questions
What does legar mean in English?
Legar means to bequeath. It is used in everyday situations such as Yo lego su casa a sus hijos. The exact English wording depends on the context, but the core meaning stays the same across the tenses.
Is legar regular?
Mostly. Legar follows the regular -ar endings, but it has a spelling change (g → gu before e). The tables on this page show every form, so you can see exactly where the spelling changes.
What is the gerund and the past participle of legar?
The gerund is legando, used with estar for the progressive: estoy legando. The past participle is legado, used with haber in the perfect tenses: he legado.
How do I say “I bequeath” in the past?
It depends on the kind of past. For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo legué sus libros a la biblioteca. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo legaba una fortuna. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he legado su casa a sus hijos.
How do I practise legar?
Start with the present tense table, then drill the preterite and the imperfect, since those two past tenses cause the most mistakes. Try the legar examples and quiz page for more sentences, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure.
Related links
- Legar in the present tense — the full present-tense table for legar.
- Legar examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice for legar.
- Spanish verbs — the Spanish hub, with every verb and tense guide.
- Actualizar conjugation — another -ar verb to compare with legar.
- Programar conjugation — another -ar verb to compare with legar.
- Formatear conjugation — another -ar verb to compare with legar.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — test yourself on real conjugated forms.
- Verb Conjugator — conjugate any Spanish verb in every tense.