Quick answer
Chegar focuses on arrival. Vir focuses on coming toward a place.
A reliable test is to identify the job of the word before translating from English.
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What each word does
chegar
to arrive
Use chegar for reaching a place, time, or result.
vir
to come
Use vir for moving toward the speaker, listener, or reference point.
How to choose
- chegar: Choose chegar if the sentence points to reaching a place, time, or result.
- vir: Choose vir if the sentence points to moving toward the speaker, listener, or reference point.
Examples
Cheguei no Rio ontem.
I arrived in Rio yesterday.
Voce vem hoje?
Are you coming today?
Common trap
You can vir and then chegar; one is movement direction, the other is the endpoint.
Practice it in context
Pick one sentence from your real life and write it twice: once with chegar, then once with vir. If both versions feel possible, name the meaning shift.
Learn Brazilian Portuguese step by step
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