La invitada llega temprano a la fiesta.

The guest arrives early to the party.

Breakdown of La invitada llega temprano a la fiesta.

• la fiesta: the party
• llegar: to arrive
• temprano: early
• a: to
• la invitada: the guest

Questions & Answers about La invitada llega temprano a la fiesta.

Why is it la invitada and not el invitado?

Spanish marks grammatical gender:

• la invitada = the female guest
• el invitado = the male guest
• las invitadas = the guests (all female)
• los invitados = the guests (mixed or all male)

Is invitada a noun or an adjective here?

A noun. It means the guest. It comes from the past participle of invitar, which can also be an adjective in phrases like la persona invitada (the invited person).

What is the subject, and how is the verb conjugated?

The subject is la invitada. Llega is the third-person singular present of llegar. Spanish often drops subject pronouns because the verb ending shows who is doing the action.

Why is it llegar a and not llegar en or llegar para?

• llegar a + place = arrive at/to a place: llega a la fiesta
• llegar en + transport = arrive by: llega en taxi
• llegar para + time/event = arrive by/for (in time for): llega para la fiesta

Why a la and not al?

Because al is the contraction of a + el (masculine singular). Here we have a + la (feminine), which does not contract, so it stays a la.

Why is it temprano and not temprana, since invitada is feminine?

Temprano here is an adverb meaning early, and adverbs don’t change for gender. Use the adjective only when it directly modifies a noun, e.g., a temprana hora (at an early hour). Tempranamente exists but sounds formal/rare in everyday speech.

Can temprano go in a different position?

Yes. Common options:

• La invitada llega temprano a la fiesta. (neutral)
• La invitada llega a la fiesta temprano. (also normal)
• Temprano llega la invitada a la fiesta. (emphasis on early)

Does llega mean right now, or can it be future?

The present can describe what’s happening now or a near-future/scheduled event, depending on context. For a clearer future meaning, you can use va a llegar or llegará.

Could I use venir instead of llegar?

Sometimes. Venir (to come) is used when the movement is toward the speaker’s location. If you’re at the party, La invitada viene temprano a la fiesta is fine. Llegar focuses on the act of reaching the destination and is always safe regardless of your location.

Can I drop the article and just say Invidata llega…?

No. Spanish normally requires an article with singular countable nouns. Use la invitada (the) or una invitada (a). Una invitada llega temprano a la fiesta means a (female) guest arrives early.

Pronunciation tips for Latin America?

• llega: usually pronounced like YEH-ga, stress on the first syllable. In parts of Argentina/Uruguay, ll can sound like SH/ZH (SHEH-ga/ZHEH-ga).
• fiesta: FYEH-sta (the ie is one syllable).
• temprano: tem-PRA-no; the r is a single tap.

How would it change for a male guest or for plural?

• Male: El invitado llega temprano a la fiesta.
• Plural (all female): Las invitadas llegan temprano a la fiesta.
• Plural (mixed/all male): Los invitados llegan temprano a la fiesta. Note that temprano stays the same; as an adverb it does not change.