Verb · irregular
traer
to bring
The thing that catches people out
traer is bringing towards where the speaker is; llevar is taking it away. A waiter asks ¿le traigo algo?, and you ask to take leftovers with ¿me lo puedo llevar?
Present
What happens, and what is happening now.
| yo | traigo | |
| tú | traes | |
| él, ella, usted | trae | |
| nosotros | traemos | |
| ellos, ustedes | traen | |
| vosotros, Spain only | traéis |
Preterite, the finished past
Something that happened and is over: yesterday, last year, once.
| yo | traje | |
| tú | trajiste | |
| él, ella, usted | trajo | |
| nosotros | trajimos | |
| ellos, ustedes | trajeron | |
| vosotros, Spain only | trajisteis |
Imperfect, the background past
What used to happen, or was going on when something else happened.
| yo | traía | |
| tú | traías | |
| él, ella, usted | traía | |
| nosotros | traíamos | |
| ellos, ustedes | traían | |
| vosotros, Spain only | traíais |
Future
Will do. In conversation, ir a plus the verb is more common: voy a comer.
| yo | traeré | |
| tú | traerás | |
| él, ella, usted | traerá | |
| nosotros | traeremos | |
| ellos, ustedes | traerán | |
| vosotros, Spain only | traeréis |
Present perfect
Have done. Used far more in Spain, where it covers today; most of Latin America uses the preterite there.
| yo | he traído | |
| tú | has traído | |
| él, ella, usted | ha traído | |
| nosotros | hemos traído | |
| ellos, ustedes | han traído | |
| vosotros, Spain only | habéis traído |
Other forms
The -ing form, the form that follows he, has and ha, and how to tell someone to do it.
| -ing form | trayendo | |
| participle | traído | |
| command, to tú | trae | |
| command, to usted | traiga |
In a sentence
¿me trae la cuenta?
could you bring me the bill?
traje mi pasaporte
I brought my passport