Spanish

Verb

llamar ‎(first-person singular present llamo, first-person singular preterite llamé, past participle llamado)

1. to summon

   Te estuve llamando a voces.—“I was summoning you by voice.”

   Me llamó con la mano para que me acerque.—“[He] summoned me with [his] hand in order to bring me near.”

   1. to call (on the telephone)

      Te llaman desde París.—“They are calling you from Paris.”

      Que me llamen a las siete.—“May they call me at seven o'clock.”

      Ha llamado a Maribel.—“[He] has called Maribel.”

   2. to knock (on a door)

      Entren sin llamar.—“ Enter without knocking.”

   3. to ring (a doorbell)

      ¿Quién llama?—“Who is ringing [the doorbell]?”

2. to refer to

   ¿Cómo van a llamar al niño?—“How are they going to refer to the child?”

   Eso yo lo llamo un auténtico robo.—“I refer to that as an authentic robbery.”

   La llamó de todo.—“[He] referred to her about everything.”

3. to appeal; to attract

   El ejército llama a muchos jóvenes.—“The army appeals to many youths.”

   El chocolate no me llama demasiado.—“Chocolate does not appeal to me too much.”

   llamar la atención—to attract attention

4. (reflexive) to be called

   ¿Cómo te llamas? (informal) / ¿Cómo se llama? (formal)—“What is your name?” (literally, “How are [you] called?”)

   Mi primo se llama Benjamín.—“My cousin’s name is Benjamin.” (literally, “My cousin is called Benjamin.”)

5. (reflexive, Spain, colloquial) to cost
   • 1947, José María Pemán, Doctrina y Oreatoria—Obras completas, Escelicer, page 1376:

     Para el empresario, se llama mil pesetas.

     “For the businessman, [it] costs a thousand pesetas.”

Conjugation

Related terms

• clamar
• clamor
• exclamar
• llamada
• llamador
• llamamiento
• llamarse
• llamativo

See also

• apodar
• apellidar
• llama