How to Say ‘The goalkeeper couldn't reach it.’ in Spain Spanish
El portero no llegaba.
ehl por-TEH-roh noh yeh-GAH-bah
[ehl por-TEH-roh noh yeh-GAH-bah]
💬 Usage Tip: Llegar usually means "to arrive", but here it means "to reach". No llegaba describes him stretching and falling short.
Phrase Breakdown
El portero
ehl por-TEH-roh
The goalkeeper
Stress 'TE'. Use a single tapped 'r' in '-tero'.
El portero es muy bueno.
The goalkeeper is very good.
Words in this phrase
El
[ehl]
the
A definite article used before a masculine singular noun.
«El» ambiente en la oficina es agradable.
The atmosphere in the office is pleasant.
portero
[por-TEH-roh]
goalkeeper
The player who defends the goal.
El portero paró el penalti.
The goalkeeper saved the penalty.
no llegaba.
noh yeh-GAH-bah
couldn't reach it.
'Llegar' here means to reach. In Spain 'll' sounds like 'y': ye-GA-ba.
No llegaba al balón.
He couldn't reach the ball.
Words in this phrase
no
[noh]
not
A word used to negate or make something negative.
No nos vamos a la fiesta.
We are not going to the party.
llegaba
[yeh-GAH-bah]
couldn't reach
Imperfect of 'llegar'; here, wasn't getting to the ball.
No llegaba a la estantería.
I couldn't reach the shelf.
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