Tomar Conjugation in Spanish
tomar means “take” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Spanish learners meet — it sits at number 30 in VerbFlow’s frequency list. You use it for drinking coffee or tea, for taking the bus or train, and for taking a photo. Because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of tomar — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Yo tomo un café todos los días.” — “I take a coffee every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: tomar
- English: to take
- Verb type: Regular -ar verb
- Irregular in: no tense — fully regular
- Gerund: tomando
- Past participle: tomado
- Auxiliary: haber (all perfect tenses are formed with haber + the past participle)
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for tomar. Learn the present tense first, then the preterite and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | tomo |
| tú | tomas |
| él/ella/Ud. | toma |
| nosotros/as | tomamos |
| vosotros/as | tomáis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | toman |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | tomé |
| tú | tomaste |
| él/ella/Ud. | tomó |
| nosotros/as | tomamos |
| vosotros/as | tomasteis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | tomaron |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | tomaba |
| tú | tomabas |
| él/ella/Ud. | tomaba |
| nosotros/as | tomábamos |
| vosotros/as | tomabais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | tomaban |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | tomaré |
| tú | tomarás |
| él/ella/Ud. | tomará |
| nosotros/as | tomaremos |
| vosotros/as | tomaréis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | tomarán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | tomaría |
| tú | tomarías |
| él/ella/Ud. | tomaría |
| nosotros/as | tomaríamos |
| vosotros/as | tomaríais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | tomarían |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he tomado |
| tú | has tomado |
| él/ella/Ud. | ha tomado |
| nosotros/as | hemos tomado |
| vosotros/as | habéis tomado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | han tomado |
Pluperfect (past perfect)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había tomado |
| tú | habías tomado |
| él/ella/Ud. | había tomado |
| nosotros/as | habíamos tomado |
| vosotros/as | habíais tomado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habían tomado |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré tomado |
| tú | habrás tomado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habrá tomado |
| nosotros/as | habremos tomado |
| vosotros/as | habréis tomado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrán tomado |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría tomado |
| tú | habrías tomado |
| él/ella/Ud. | habría tomado |
| nosotros/as | habríamos tomado |
| vosotros/as | habríais tomado |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | habrían tomado |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | tome |
| tú | tomes |
| él/ella/Ud. | tome |
| nosotros/as | tomemos |
| vosotros/as | toméis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | tomen |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | tomara |
| tú | tomaras |
| él/ella/Ud. | tomara |
| nosotros/as | tomáramos |
| vosotros/as | tomarais |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | tomaran |
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | toma |
| él/ella/Ud. | tome |
| nosotros/as | tomemos |
| vosotros/as | tomad |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | tomen |
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | tomes |
| él/ella/Ud. | tome |
| nosotros/as | tomemos |
| vosotros/as | toméis |
| ellos/ellas/Uds. | tomen |
Gerund and past participle
| Form | Spanish |
|---|---|
| Gerund | tomando |
| Past participle | tomado |
When to use each tense
Present indicative
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Yo tomo un café todos los días.” — “I take a coffee every day.”
Preterite
The preterite is used for completed actions in the past. For example: “Tú tomaste el autobús al centro ayer.” — “You took the bus to the centre yesterday.”
Imperfect
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. For example: “Él tomaba una foto del puente antes.” — “He used to take a photo of the bridge before.”
Future
The future is used for what will happen, predictions and probability. For example: “Yo tomaré un café mañana.” — “I will take a coffee tomorrow.”
Conditional
The conditional is used for what would happen, polite requests and hypothetical situations. For example: “Tú tomarías el autobús al centro algún día.” — “You would take the bus to the centre someday.”
Present perfect
The present perfect is used for recent past actions and life experience, formed with haber + the past participle. For example: “Él ha tomado una foto del puente esta semana.” — “He has taken a photo of the bridge this week.”
Pluperfect (past perfect)
The pluperfect (past perfect) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Yo había tomado un café antes de la fiesta.” — “I had taken a coffee before the party.”
Future perfect
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tú habrás tomado el autobús al centro para mañana.” — “You will have taken the bus to the centre by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Él habría tomado una foto del puente ayer.” — “He would have taken a photo of the bridge yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. For example: “Es importante que yo tome un café.” — “It is important that i take a coffee.”
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)
The imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is used for the past subjunctive: wishes and hypotheticals about the past, and clauses after a past-tense trigger. For example: “Ojalá tú tomaras el autobús al centro.” — “I wish you took the bus to the centre.”
Imperative (affirmative)
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. The imperative of tomar gives a direct order; the negative forms use the present subjunctive pattern. For example: “¡Toma una foto del puente!” — “Take a photo of the bridge!”
Imperative (negative)
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. The imperative of tomar gives a direct order; the negative forms use the present subjunctive pattern. For example: “No tomes un café.” — “Do not take a coffee.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with tomar, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Spanish and try to produce it from the English.
- “Yo tomo un café todos los días.” — “I take a coffee every day.”
- “Tú tomaste el autobús al centro ayer.” — “You took the bus to the centre yesterday.”
- “Él tomaba una foto del puente antes.” — “He used to take a photo of the bridge before.”
- “Yo tomaré el autobús al centro mañana.” — “I will take the bus to the centre tomorrow.”
- “Tú tomarías un café algún día.” — “You would take a coffee someday.”
- “Él ha tomado una foto del puente esta semana.” — “He has taken a photo of the bridge this week.”
- “Yo había tomado un café antes de la fiesta.” — “I had taken a coffee before the party.”
- “Tú habrás tomado el autobús al centro para mañana.” — “You will have taken the bus to the centre by tomorrow.”
- “Es importante que él tome una foto del puente.” — “It is important that he take a photo of the bridge.”
- “¡Toma un café!” — “Take a coffee!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Yo tomar un café.”
✓ Right: “Yo tomo un café.”
The infinitive tomar never takes a subject. After yo you need the conjugated present form tomo.
2. Confusing tomar with beber
✗ Wrong: “Yo bebo un café.”
✓ Right: “Yo tomo un café.”
Tomar covers drinking and taking; beber is only to drink.
3. Using the wrong auxiliary in perfect tenses
✗ Wrong: “Yo soy tomado un café.”
✓ Right: “Yo he tomado un café.”
Spanish perfect tenses are always built with haber, never with ser. The correct form is he + the participle tomado.
4. Dropping the written accent
✗ Wrong: “tome”
✓ Right: “tomé”
The accent on tomé is part of the spelling in the preterite. Without it the form looks like a different word, so always write the accent.
5. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Ojalá tú tomas un café.”
✓ Right: “Ojalá tú tomes un café.”
After ojalá Spanish needs the subjunctive, so use tomes here, not the indicative tomas.
6. Using the preterite for a habitual past action
✗ Wrong: “Yo tomé un café antes.” (said of a repeated habit)
✓ Right: “Yo tomaba un café antes.”
The preterite tomé describes one finished action. For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect tomaba.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on tomar. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the yo form of tomar in the Present indicative?
- A) tomas
- B) toma
- C) tomamos
- D) tomo
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of tomar in the Preterite?
- A) tomaste
- B) tomamos
- C) tomó
- D) tomé
What is the nosotros/as form of tomar in the Imperfect?
- A) tomabais
- B) tomábamos
- C) tomaba
- D) tomabas
What is the tú form of tomar in the Future?
- A) tomarás
- B) tomaré
- C) tomará
- D) tomaremos
What is the yo form of tomar in the Conditional?
- A) tomarías
- B) tomaríamos
- C) tomaríais
- D) tomaría
What is the él/ella/Ud. form of tomar in the Present subjunctive?
- A) tomemos
- B) toméis
- C) tome
- D) tomes
What is the yo form of tomar in the Imperfect subjunctive (-ra)?
- A) tomarais
- B) tomara
- C) tomaras
- D) tomáramos
What is the gerund of tomar?
- A) tomando
- B) volviendo
- C) conociendo
- D) viviendo
What is the past participle of tomar?
- A) vuelto
- B) conocido
- C) vivido
- D) tomado
What does tomar mean in English?
- A) to know
- B) to live
- C) to take
- D) to return
Answer key
- D) tomo — the yo form of tomar in the present indicative is tomo. The other options (tomas, toma, tomamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) tomó — the él/ella/Ud. form of tomar in the preterite is tomó. The other options (tomé, tomaste, tomamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) tomábamos — the nosotros/as form of tomar in the imperfect is tomábamos. The other options (tomaba, tomabas, tomaba) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) tomarás — the tú form of tomar in the future is tomarás. The other options (tomaré, tomará, tomaremos) are the same tense for different persons.
- D) tomaría — the yo form of tomar in the conditional is tomaría. The other options (tomarías, tomaría, tomaríamos) are the same tense for different persons.
- C) tome — the él/ella/Ud. form of tomar in the present subjunctive is tome. The other options (tome, tomes, tomemos) are the same tense for different persons.
- B) tomara — the yo form of tomar in the imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is tomara. The other options (tomaras, tomara, tomáramos) are the same tense for different persons.
- A) tomando — the gerund of tomar is tomando; it is used with estar for the progressive. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- D) tomado — the past participle of tomar is tomado; perfect tenses use haber + tomado. The other options are the participles of neighbouring verbs.
- C) to take — tomar means “to take” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does tomar mean in English?
tomar means “to take”. You use it for drinking coffee or tea, for taking the bus or train, and for taking a photo. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is tomar regular or irregular?
tomar is regular -ar verb, with no irregular tense — it follows the regular pattern throughout. The gerund is tomando and the past participle is tomado.
What are the gerund and past participle of tomar?
The gerund is tomando — use it with estar for actions in progress. The past participle is tomado — use it with haber for the perfect tenses, as in he tomado (I have taken).
What is the difference between tomar and beber?
Tomar covers drinking and taking; beber is only to drink. If you are unsure, check the full table for beber and compare the meanings in context.
How do I say “I take” in Spanish?
Say “Yo tomo un café.” — “I take a coffee every day.” The yo form of the present is tomo, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- tomar in the present tense — the full table and uses for this verb in its most practised tense.
- tomar examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- Volver conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Conocer conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Vivir conjugation — another everyday Spanish verb.
- Present tense guide — how the present tense works for regular verbs.
- Preterite tense guide — how the preterite works, and when to choose it over the imperfect.
- Verb Conjugator — practise tomar with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise tomar with the interactive tool.