El caso llega al tribunal.

to the

Breakdown of El caso llega al tribunal.

• llegar: to arrive
• el caso: the case
• el tribunal: the court (legal)

Questions & Answers about El caso llega al tribunal.

Why is it al tribunal and not a el tribunal?

Because a + el contracts to al in Spanish.

• a el tribunal → al tribunal

This contraction is required with el.
But it does not happen with la:

• a la corte
• a la oficina

A useful comparison:

• Voy al banco. = I go to the bank.
• Llega al tribunal. = It arrives at / reaches the court.

Why is it llega and not llegó or ha llegado?

Llega is the present tense, third person singular, of llegar.

Here it agrees with el caso, which is singular:

• el caso llega = the case arrives / reaches
• los casos llegan = the cases arrive / reach

Other forms would change the time reference:

• llegó = arrived
• ha llegado = has arrived

So llega tells you the sentence is in the present.

Why is llega singular?

Because the subject is el caso, which is singular.

In Spanish, the verb must agree with the subject:

• El caso llega al tribunal.
• Los casos llegan al tribunal.

Even though English sometimes feels less marked, Spanish verb endings clearly show singular vs. plural.