La chica llega hoy.

La is the definite article, meaning the.

So la chica means the girl or the young woman.

Spanish articles must agree with the noun’s gender and number:

• la = feminine singular
• el = masculine singular
• las = feminine plural
• los = masculine plural

Because chica is feminine singular, it uses la.

Chica is the feminine form, and chico is the masculine form.

• chica = girl / young woman
• chico = boy / young man

In Spanish, many nouns referring to people change form depending on gender:

• el chico
• la chica

This is why the article also changes: la chica, not el chica.

Not always. Chica can mean:

• a girl
• a young woman
• sometimes just a young female person

The exact meaning depends on context, age, and region. In everyday Latin American Spanish, chica is very common and natural.

Llegar is the infinitive, meaning to arrive.

In a sentence, Spanish usually needs a conjugated verb, so llegar changes to llega to match la chica.

Here is the present tense of llegar:

• yo llego = I arrive
• tú llegas = you arrive
• él/ella/usted llega = he/she/you arrive
• nosotros llegamos = we arrive
• ellos/ellas/ustedes llegan = they/you all arrive

Since la chica = she, the correct form is llega.

Grammatically, llega is present tense.

But in Spanish, just like in English, the present tense is often used for a planned or scheduled future action.

So La chica llega hoy can mean:

• The girl arrives today
• The girl is arriving today
• sometimes even The girl comes today, depending on context

Because hoy clearly places the action in time, using the present tense sounds very natural.

Because llega already contains the full verb idea: arrives / is arriving.

English often needs extra words like:

• is arriving
• does arrive
• will arrive

Spanish often expresses this with just one conjugated verb form, especially in simple sentences.

So:

• La chica llega hoy = one subject + one conjugated verb + time word

There is no need for a separate word like is here.

Yes. Spanish word order is more flexible than English.

The basic order here is:

• La chica = subject
• llega = verb
• hoy = time expression

But you could also say:

• Hoy llega la chica.

That version puts more emphasis on today.

Both are correct.
La chica llega hoy is a neutral, straightforward order.

Yes, if the context already makes it clear who you mean.

Spanish often leaves out subjects when they are understood. So:

• Llega hoy. = She arrives today / She’s arriving today

But if you want to make it clear that you are talking about the girl, then saying La chica llega hoy is better.

A simple Latin American-style pronunciation guide:

• la → lah
• chica → CHEE-kah
• llega → roughly YEH-gah in most of Latin America
• hoy → like oy in boy

A few notes:

• ch is like English ch in chair
• the h in hoy is silent
• ll in most of Latin America sounds like y in yes or a soft j/y sound, depending on the region

So the whole sentence sounds roughly like:

lah CHEE-kah YEH-gah oy

Because in Spanish, h is usually silent.

So:

• hoy is pronounced oy
• hola is pronounced ola
• hacer is pronounced aser

That is a very common rule in Spanish.

Because none of these words needs a written accent mark under normal spelling rules:

• la = one syllable, no accent mark needed
• chica = stress naturally falls on chi
• llega = stress naturally falls on lle
• hoy = one syllable, so no accent mark

In Spanish, words often only get a written accent mark when they break the normal stress rules or need to be distinguished from another word.

This is a very common question.

• llegar = to arrive
• venir = to come

In English, you might sometimes translate this kind of sentence with come, but Spanish is specifically using llegar, which focuses on the arrival.

So:

• La chica llega hoy = The girl arrives today
• La chica viene hoy = The girl comes today

Both can be possible in real life, but they are not exactly the same idea.

Yes. Muchacha is another word that can mean girl or young woman.

So:

• La chica llega hoy
• La muchacha llega hoy

Both are grammatical.
Which one sounds more natural can depend on the country or region.

In much of Latin America, chica is very common and everyday.