Verb · regular -ar
tomar
to take, to drink
The thing that catches people out
tomar is the everyday verb for drinking and for catching transport: tomo un café, tomo el autobús. In Spain people often say coger for the bus.
Present
What happens, and what is happening now.
| yo | tomo | |
| tú | tomas | |
| él, ella, usted | toma | |
| nosotros | tomamos | |
| ellos, ustedes | toman | |
| vosotros, Spain only | tomáis |
Preterite, the finished past
Something that happened and is over: yesterday, last year, once.
| yo | tomé | |
| tú | tomaste | |
| él, ella, usted | tomó | |
| nosotros | tomamos | |
| ellos, ustedes | tomaron | |
| vosotros, Spain only | tomasteis |
Imperfect, the background past
What used to happen, or was going on when something else happened.
| yo | tomaba | |
| tú | tomabas | |
| él, ella, usted | tomaba | |
| nosotros | tomábamos | |
| ellos, ustedes | tomaban | |
| vosotros, Spain only | tomabais |
Future
Will do. In conversation, ir a plus the verb is more common: voy a comer.
| yo | tomaré | |
| tú | tomarás | |
| él, ella, usted | tomará | |
| nosotros | tomaremos | |
| ellos, ustedes | tomarán | |
| vosotros, Spain only | tomaréis |
Present perfect
Have done. Used far more in Spain, where it covers today; most of Latin America uses the preterite there.
| yo | he tomado | |
| tú | has tomado | |
| él, ella, usted | ha tomado | |
| nosotros | hemos tomado | |
| ellos, ustedes | han tomado | |
| vosotros, Spain only | habéis tomado |
Other forms
The -ing form, the form that follows he, has and ha, and how to tell someone to do it.
| -ing form | tomando | |
| participle | tomado | |
| command, to tú | toma | |
| command, to usted | tome |
In a sentence
¿qué vas a tomar?
what are you having?
tomamos un taxi
we took a taxi