Temo llegar tarde.

I fear arriving late.

Breakdown of Temo llegar tarde.

• tarde: late
• llegar: to arrive
• temer: to fear

Questions & Answers about Temo llegar tarde.

Why is temo used here, and what form is it?

Temo is the first-person singular present tense of temer, which means to fear or to be afraid.

So:

• temer = to fear
• temo = I fear / I’m afraid

In Temo llegar tarde, the subject yo is understood, so the full sentence would be:

• (Yo) temo llegar tarde. = I’m afraid I’ll arrive late / I fear arriving late

Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns when the verb already makes the subject clear.

Why is llegar in the infinitive?

Because after temer, Spanish can use an infinitive to express what someone fears doing or what might happen.

So:

• Temo llegar tarde = I fear arriving late / I’m afraid I’ll arrive late

This structure is very common:

• Temo equivocarme. = I’m afraid of making a mistake.
• Teme perder el tren. = He/She is afraid of missing the train.

In English, we often change the structure when translating, but in Spanish the infinitive is very natural here.

Why isn’t there a de after temo?