Llevar means to carry. But I believe it also has at least one other meaning.

Does llevar also mean 'to take' as in 'to take someone to dinner', or
to 'take something with you', or 'take something away'?

Thanks, Patrice

Ola Patrice,


   I?m glad to see you are still learning!

   You are correct that the term ?llevar? / ?llevarse? has several
meanings;  To take something with you, or take something along, or,
take out, as in food, to wear and to follow a path or route.


Llevarse is the reflexive form: To take away.
==============================================
?A verb is used reflexively when the subject of the verb is also its
object. A reflexive verb is often called for in Spanish when a
different way of wording things is used in English.?
http://spanish.about.com/library/beginning/aa-beg-verbs-reflexive.htm

 Examples are:

Llevarse as move/carry
Se llevaron la sofa a la sala : They moved the sofa to the living room.

Llevarse as getting along (carry on)
Llevarse bien con su suegra: Getting along well with your mother-in-law
Nos llevamos bien: We get along well (together).

Suppose you are looking at a pile of sweaters on sale, and you find
THE perfect sweater. You say ?Me lo llevo esto? : I?ll take this one
(with me)

Following a path:
We'll follow/take the coastal route: Nos llevará al camino de la costa.



Llevar is the transitive form.
==============================
?A verb is Transitive when its action passes from the subject of the
action to the object.?
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:Vz5OeMMDpcEJ:www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/1/2/15127/15127.txt+transitive+verb+llevar+%2B+llevarse&hl=en

?Transitive verbs name actions that 'aim' at an object, either a thing
or a person. These verbs need an object to be complete and make sense.
Verbs like 'hacer [to make]' or llevar [to wear]', for instance, do
not make sense unless we know what is being made or what is being
worn.?
http://www.learnplus.com/guides/spanishgrammar12.html
 
 Examples are:

Felipe lleva un traje azul. Felipe wears a blue suit.

Nestor llevaba una camisa verde. Nestor was wearing a green shirt.

Your friend asks you what you are wearing to the party tonight. You
respond ?Me llevo una blusa rosada con pantalones negros.?

You ask someone to take you to the library: ?Llévame a la biblioteca,
por favor?. Many people use ?Traigame a la bibilioteca?

I?ll take you to the restaurant: ?Te llevaré al restaurante?. This
would typically be used more for actually giving a person a ride to
the restaurant, not necessarily meaning ?inviting? . If you were to
invite someone to dinner, you would use ?Te invito a cenar?

I?ll take you home: ?Yo te llevaré a casa? 

I?m carrying the boxes to the trash: "Estoy llevando las cajas a la basura."

I carry my mother?s memory with me. : "Me llevo la memoria de mi madre"

I?ll bring it to you: ?Te lo  llevaré?

Take this book with you: ?Lleva éste libro contigo?

I don?t have my glasses with me: ?No llevo mis lentes/gaffas/anteojos.?




Here are some more examples of llevar:
http://spanish.allinfo-about.com/vocabulary/expressions/ex-llevar.html


Additionally, you may see this sign in a restaurant window:
Comida para llevar ? This means ?Carry Out?, food to go.

Hope that helps you better understand 'llevar/llevarse'

If anything in my answer is unclear, please request an Answer
Clarification, before rating.

Buena Suerte!

Sinceramente, Crabcakes

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Request for Answer Clarification by patrice29-ga on 26 Feb 2005 12:16 PST

Hi crabcakes. Thanks for the great answer.

It occurs to me as I read that there could be restrictions of how
'mover' and 'tomar' are used, since llevar has so many applications.

IF:
They moved the sofa to the living room. <<is>>  Se llevaron la sofa a la sala.

and,
I?ll take you home  <<is>>  Yo te llevaré a casa 

Would it be incorrect (or unusual) to use mover and tomar in these examples.
If so, then I imagine mover and tomar aren't used as much as 'move'
and 'take' in English.

Thanks, Patrice

---

Clarification of Answer by crabcakes-ga on 26 Feb 2005 12:53 PST

Ah, more Spanish idiosyncracies!

You CAN say "Voy a mover la sofa mas alla" = I'm going to move the
sofa further over there". Its a subtle difference, but to move it
within the room, as in shoving it around, you could use mover. This is
pretty close to what we would do in English. "They will carry/take the
sofa into the next room/new house", because it is heavy and need to be
lifted to go over carpet, into the next room, perhaps? But if
rearranging furniture, we would say "Let's shove/move the sofa to the
right a bit"

So, 'mover' typically would be used to move/shove a shorter distance.
'Llevar' would be used for longer distances,as in carry away.

=======

Tomar, typically is used more for eating and drinking,taking as in
pills, and in taking time, and to take and in being handed something,
receiving something.

"Tomo vino cada noche" = 'I drink wine each night.'
"Ella toma tres pastillas diario" = 'She takes three pills each day.'

"Tome" = Here, as in 'Here, take (an item)' As in, a teacher handing you a pen"

"Tomelo" = Take it, as in 'Here, take this'. A bit more emphatic than 'Tome'

"Tome su tiempo" = 'Take your time'

You may hear "Yo te tomo a casa" but it is not correct. I am not a
Spanish grammarian, but I I hear a lot of poor Spanish when I'm out,
and you will too. I'd recommend staying away from street Spanish, just
as you do with street English. A common misuse is using 'trabajar' and
'funcionar'. 'Trabajar' ia used for "to work", as in 'labor'. When a
toaster does not work, it is 'No funciona', NOT 'No trabaja'. This is
a very common misuse!

Siga estudiando!
Ciao, Crabcakes

This is becoming clear. Thanks so much for your right on answer!!!
Patrice

Gracias patrice, for the stars and nice tip! Muchas gracias!