Skip to content

alcanzar

to reach

verb ahl-kahn-SAHR Common

Also means

to achieve

Usage Note

Alcanzar covers both physical reaching (alcanzar el estante) and figurative attainment (alcanzar una meta). It also means 'to catch up with someone' (te alcanzo en la esquina). The construction alcanzar a + infinitive means 'to manage to do something' (no alcancé a verlo = I didn't manage to see it).

Examples

"Finalmente alcanzó su meta."

Natural Translation

He finally reached his goal.

Free starter pack

Building your Spanish vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common Spanish words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore Spanish by topic