llevar

Inherited from Old Catalan levar, from Latin levāre.

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ʎəˈβa]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ʎəˈva]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ʎeˈvaɾ]

llevar (first-person singular present llevo, first-person singular preterite lleví, past participle llevat); root stress: (Central, Valencia, Balearic) /e/

1. (transitive) to remove, to take out
2. (transitive) to raise, to lift, to help get up
3. (reflexive) to get up
4. (intransitive) to rise
5. (pronominal) to get up, to get out of bed

• “llevar” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

• “llevar” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “llevar”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “llevar” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.

Inherited from Old Spanish levar, from Latin levāre. The initial /ʎ/ developed from an earlier /lj/ in rhizotonic conjugations such as lieva (< Latin lĕvat), where it resulted from the diphthongization of stressed Latin /ĕ/ to /je/. Eventually /ʎ-/ spread to the entire verb paradigm by analogy.^[1]

• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: lle‧var

llevar (first-person singular present llevo, first-person singular preterite llevé, past participle llevado)

1. (transitive) to take, to carry, to take away, to carry away, to carry around, to bring, to bear, to lug (implies to move something further from who speaks)

   Synonym: traer

   Antonym: quitar

   Le llevaré un regalo a Rosa para su cumpleaños.

   I will take a present to Rosa for her birthday.

   • 2013, Ellis Peters, El gorrión del santuario‎^[1]:

     Padre, y tú, Daniel, llevadla a la cama. No tiene ningún hueso roto y no siente nada.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (transitive) to take, to take out (implies moving someone further from the speaker)

   Llevamos a las chicas al cine.

   We're taking the girls to the movies.

3. (intransitive) to lead, to drive [with a ‘to a conclusion’]

   A la luz de esos resultados, todo esto lleva a la conclusión de que hay que idear métodos alternativos.

   In light of those findings, all this leads to the conclusion that alternative methods should be devised.

4. (transitive) to have spent time, have been [with direct object ‘length of time’, along with locational phrase or gerund or past past]

   Llevo seis años aquí.

   I've been here 6 years.

   Llevo dos años estudiando francés.

   I've been studying French for two years.

   Llevamos más de 30 años casados.

   We've been married for more than 30 years.

5. (transitive) to wear (ellipsis of the more formal llevar puesto)

   Synonym: (ellipsis of traer puesto) traer

   Llevaba una blusa rosa.

   She was wearing a pink blouse.

6. (transitive) to have, include (have as a component, part, accessory or ingredient)

   Synonym: traer

   Si es quesadilla lleva queso, si no lleva queso, no es quesadilla.

   If it is a quesadilla, it has cheese; if it does not have cheese it is not a quesadilla.

   (phrase used in the Mexican provinces to debate the usage of the word quesadilla in Mexico City)

   Esta palabra no lleva acento.

   This word does not have an accent mark.

7. (transitive) to give a lift, to give a ride
8. (colloquial) to hold up, to be doing, to cope

   ¿Cómo lo llevas? ― How are you holding up?

9. (reflexive) to wear
10. (reflexive, informal) to be in, to be fashionable

• In the sense of "carry" or "move", llevar and traer are antonyms in the origin and destination of the action, but between them they are used as synonyms.

• “llevar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 23rd edition, Royal Spanish Academy, 2014 October 16