The Verb Llevar

The Spanish verb llevar has many different meanings. It's also used in many idiomatic phrases. Let's study some examples since this is a very popular and useful verb.

The basic meanings of llevar is "to carry " or "to take":

Tengo que llevar a mi hijo al doctor - I have to take my kid to the doctor.
Ella lleva una carga muy pesada - She carries a very heavy burden.

Sometimes the verb llevar translates as "to bring":

No [te] olvides [de] llevar un regalo a la fiesta de Lucía / Don't forget to bring a gift to Lucia's party.

This can be a little confusing for English speakers, since traer and llevar actually mean opposite things in Spanish. The verb traer involves carrying something to the speaker's location, while llevar means to carry something from the speaker's location to a different place. So, to use the same example, if you are already at Lucía's party or, let's say, she is your roomie, you must say: No [te] olvides [de] traer un regalo a la fiesta de Lucía (Don't forget to bring a gift to Lucia's party).

But the verb llevar has many other interesting uses. For example, it's used to express the idea of having been doing something for a period of time. In this case, it's very common to combine llevar with the preposition ya (already):

Yo ya llevo veintitrés años aquí ya.

I have already been here for twenty-three years now.

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Llevar can also be used to express duration. This is easy to learn since English also uses "to take" for the same purpose:

tenemos que teñirlo, esto pues, nos lleva un ratito,

we have to dye it, this well, it takes us a little while,

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As you can see, this use of llevar frequently involves using reflexive pronouns. But you don't always need them. Compare, for example:

Hacer la tarea lleva mucho tiempo / Doing homework takes a lot of time.
Hacer la tarea me lleva mucho tiempo / Doing homework takes me a lot of time.

Llevar also means"to wear":

¿Por qué lleváis guantes?

Why do you wear gloves?

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By the way, the verb traer (to bring) is sometimes used the same way:

por eso... traen pantalones

that's why... they wear pants

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And the verb llevar also means "to lead." For example: ¿Llevas una vida saludable? (Do you lead a healthy life?).

Finally, there's an expression used in Mexico that derives from this last meaning: ahí la llevas. It literally means something like "there, you are leading it" but it means that the person speaking is telling you that you are doing your work well. It's very common to use this expression as an ironic remark that means exactly the opposite, so be careful:

No te rindas, hijo. Ahí la llevas. / Don't give up, son. You are doing well.
¿Otra vez borracho? Bueno, tú síguele. Ahí la llevas. / Drunk again? Well, keep going. You are on the right track... not.