Llevar Conjugation in Spanish
llevar means “carry” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Spanish learners meet — it sits at number 21 in VerbFlow’s frequency list. You use it for wearing clothes and glasses, for carrying things, and for spending a length of time somewhere. Because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of llevar — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Yo llevo una chaqueta azul todos los días.” — “I carry a blue jacket every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: llevar
- English: to carry
- Verb type: Regular -ar verb
- Irregular in: no tense — fully regular
- Gerund: llevando
- Past participle: llevado
- Auxiliary: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + the past participle)
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for llevar. Learn the present tense first, then the preterite and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | llevo |
| tú | llevas |
| él/ella/Ud. | lleva |
| nosotros/as | llevamos |
| vosotros/as | lleváis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | llevan |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | llevé |
| tú | llevaste |
| él/ella/Ud. | llevó |
| nosotros/as | llevamos |
| vosotros/as | llevasteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | llevaron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | llevaba |
| tú | llevabas |
| él/ella/Ud. | llevaba |
| nosotros/as | llevábamos |
| vosotros/as | llevabais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | llevaban |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | llevaré |
| tú | llevarás |
| él/ella/Ud. | llevará |
| nosotros/as | llevaremos |
| vosotros/as | llevaréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | llevarán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | llevaría |
| tú | llevarías |
| él/ella/Ud. | llevaría |
| nosotros/as | llevaríamos |
| vosotros/as | llevaríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | llevarían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he llevado |
| tú | has llevado |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha llevado |
| nosotros/as | hemos llevado |
| vosotros/as | habéis llevado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han llevado |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había llevado |
| tú | habías llevado |
| él/ella/Ud. | había llevado |
| nosotros/as | habíamos llevado |
| vosotros/as | habíais llevado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían llevado |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré llevado |
| tú | habrás llevado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá llevado |
| nosotros/as | habremos llevado |
| vosotros/as | habréis llevado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán llevado |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría llevado |
| tú | habrías llevado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría llevado |
| nosotros/as | habríamos llevado |
| vosotros/as | habríais llevado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían llevado |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | lleve |
| tú | lleves |
| él/ella/Ud. | lleve |
| nosotros/as | llevemos |
| vosotros/as | llevéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | lleven |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | llevara |
| tú | llevaras |
| él/ella/Ud. | llevara |
| nosotros/as | lleváramos |
| vosotros/as | llevarais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | llevaran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | lleva |
| él/ella/Ud. | lleve |
| nosotros/as | llevemos |
| vosotros/as | llevad |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | lleven |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | lleves |
| él/ella/Ud. | lleve |
| nosotros/as | llevemos |
| vosotros/as | llevéis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | lleven |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Gerund | llevando |
| Past participle | llevado |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Yo llevo una chaqueta azul todos los días.” — “I carry a blue jacket every day.”
Preterite
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past. For example: “Tú llevaste gafas de sol ayer.” — “You carried sunglasses yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Él llevaba dos años en Madrid antes.” — “He used to carry two years in Madrid before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and probability. For example: “Yo llevaré una chaqueta azul mañana.” — “I will carry a blue jacket tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Tú llevarías gafas de sol algún día.” — “You would carry sunglasses someday.”
Present perfect
The present perfect is used for recent past actions and life experience, formed with haber + the past participle. For example: “Él ha llevado dos años en Madrid esta semana.” — “He has carried two years in Madrid this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Yo había llevado una chaqueta azul antes de la fiesta.” — “I had carried a blue jacket before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tú habrás llevado gafas de sol para mañana.” — “You will have carried sunglasses by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Él habría llevado dos años en Madrid ayer.” — “He would have carried two years in Madrid yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Es importante que yo lleve una chaqueta azul.” — “It is important that i carry a blue jacket.”
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
The imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, and clauses after a past-tense trigger. For example: “Ojalá tú llevaras gafas de sol.” — “I wish you carried sunglasses.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. The imperative of llevar gives a direct order; the negative forms use the present subjunctive pattern. For example: “¡Lleva dos años en Madrid!” — “Carry two years in Madrid!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. The imperative of llevar gives a direct order; the negative forms use the present subjunctive pattern. For example: “No lleves una chaqueta azul.” — “Do not carry a blue jacket.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with llevar, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Spanish and try to produce it from the English.
- “Yo llevo una chaqueta azul todos los días.” — “I carry a blue jacket every day.”
- “Tú llevaste gafas de sol ayer.” — “You carried sunglasses yesterday.”
- “Él llevaba dos años en Madrid antes.” — “He used to carry two years in Madrid before.”
- “Yo llevaré gafas de sol mañana.” — “I will carry sunglasses tomorrow.”
- “Tú llevarías una chaqueta azul algún día.” — “You would carry a blue jacket someday.”
- “Él ha llevado dos años en Madrid esta semana.” — “He has carried two years in Madrid this week.”
- “Yo había llevado una chaqueta azul antes de la fiesta.” — “I had carried a blue jacket before the party.”
- “Tú habrás llevado gafas de sol para mañana.” — “You will have carried sunglasses by tomorrow.”
- “Es importante que él lleve dos años en Madrid.” — “It is important that he carry two years in Madrid.”
- “¡Lleva una chaqueta azul!” — “Carry a blue jacket!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Yo llevar una chaqueta azul.”
✓ Right: “Yo llevo una chaqueta azul.”
The infinitive llevar never takes a subject. After yo you need the conjugated present form llevo.
2. Confusing llevar with poner
✗ Wrong: “Yo pongo una chaqueta azul.”
✓ Right: “Yo llevo una chaqueta azul.”
Llevar is to wear or carry; poner is to put something somewhere.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary in perfect tenses
✗ Wrong: “Yo soy llevado una chaqueta azul.”
✓ Right: “Yo he llevado una chaqueta azul.”
Spanish perfect tenses are always built with haber, never with ser. The correct form is he + the participle llevado.
4. Dropping the written accent
✗ Wrong: “lleve”
✓ Right: “llevé”
The accent on llevé is part of the spelling in the preterite. Without it the form looks like a different word, so always write the accent.
5. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Ojalá tú llevas una chaqueta azul.”
✓ Right: “Ojalá tú lleves una chaqueta azul.”
After ojalá Spanish needs the subjunctive, so use lleves here, not the indicative llevas.
6. Using the preterite for a habitual past action
✗ Wrong: “Yo llevé una chaqueta azul antes.” (said of a repeated habit)
✓ Right: “Yo llevaba una chaqueta azul antes.”
The preterite llevé describes one finished action. For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect llevaba.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on llevar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the yo form of llevar in the Present indicative?
- A) llevas
- B) lleva
- C) llevamos
- D) llevo
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of llevar in the Preterite?
- A) llevaste
- B) llevamos
- C) llevó
- D) llevé
What is the nosotros/as form of llevar in the Imperfect?
- A) llevabais
- B) llevábamos
- C) llevaba
- D) llevabas
What is the tú form of llevar in the Future?
- A) llevarás
- B) llevaré
- C) llevará
- D) llevaremos
What is the yo form of llevar in the Conditional?
- A) llevarías
- B) llevaríamos
- C) llevaríais
- D) llevaría
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of llevar in the Present subjunctive?
- A) llevemos
- B) llevéis
- C) lleve
- D) lleves
What is the yo form of llevar in the Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)?
- A) llevarais
- B) llevara
- C) llevaras
- D) lleváramos
What is the gerund of llevar?
- A) llevando
- B) hablando
- C) dejando
- D) siguiendo
What is the past participle of llevar?
- A) hablado
- B) dejado
- C) seguido
- D) llevado
What does llevar mean in English?
- A) to leave
- B) to follow
- C) to carry
- D) to speak
Answer key
- D) llevo — the yo form of llevar in the present indicative is llevo. The other options (llevas, lleva, llevamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) llevó — the él/ella/Ud. form of llevar in the preterite is llevó. The other options (llevé, llevaste, llevamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) llevábamos — the nosotros/as form of llevar in the imperfect is llevábamos. The other options (llevaba, llevabas, llevaba) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) llevarás — the tú form of llevar in the future is llevarás. The other options (llevaré, llevará, llevaremos) are the same tense for different persons.
- D) llevaría — the yo form of llevar in the conditional is llevaría. The other options (llevarías, llevaría, llevaríamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) lleve — the él/ella/Ud. form of llevar in the present subjunctive is lleve. The other options (lleve, lleves, llevemos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) llevara — the yo form of llevar in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is llevara. The other options (llevaras, llevara, lleváramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) llevando — the gerund of llevar is llevando; it is used with estar for the progressive. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) llevado — the past participle of llevar is llevado; perfect tenses use haber + llevado. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to carry — llevar means “to carry” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does llevar mean in English?
llevar means “to carry”. You use it for wearing clothes and glasses, for carrying things, and for spending a length of time somewhere. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is llevar regular or irregular?
llevar is regular -ar verb, with no irregular tense — it follows the regular pattern throughout. The gerund is llevando and the past participle is llevado.
What are the gerund and past participle of llevar?
The gerund is llevando — use it with estar for actions in progress. The past participle is llevado — use it with haber for the perfect tenses, as in he llevado (I have carried).
What is the difference between llevar and poner?
Llevar is to wear or carry; poner is to put something somewhere. If you are unsure, check the full table for poner and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I carry” in Spanish?
Say “Yo llevo una chaqueta azul.” — “I carry a blue jacket every day.” The yo form of the present is llevo, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- llevar in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in its most practised tense.
- llevar examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Hablar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Dejar conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Seguir conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Present tense guide — how the present tense works for regular verbs.
- Preterite tense guide — how the preterite works, and when to choose it over the imperfect.
- Verb Conjugator — practise llevar with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise llevar with the interactive tool.