Tragar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

tragar means to swallow, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Tragar means to swallow, and it covers swallowing a pill with water, swallowing without chewing and, figuratively, swallowing your pride or swallowing dust on a road. It is a spelling-change verb: the g becomes gu before e, so the preterite is tragué. This page puts tragar to work: twelve example sentences in different tenses and persons, grouped by use, then two short dialogues where the verb appears naturally, then the common mistakes to avoid, and finally a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every Spanish form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for tragar, and the full tables are on the tragar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo trago la pastilla con agua. — I swallow the pill with water.
  2. Él traga sin masticar por las prisas. — He/she swallows without chewing because of the rush.
  3. Ayer, yo tragué saliva antes de hablar. — Yesterday, I swallowed before speaking.
  4. Antes, nosotros tragábamos el polvo del camino. — Before, we used to swallow the dust from the road.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú tragarás la pastilla con agua. — Tomorrow, you will swallow the pill with water.
  2. Yo tragaría sin masticar por las prisas. — I would swallow without chewing because of the rush.
  3. Él ha tragado saliva antes de hablar. — He/she has swallowed before speaking.
  4. Espero que él trague el polvo del camino. — I hope he/she swallows the dust from the road.

With other people

  1. Nosotros tragamos la pastilla con agua. — We swallow the pill with water.
  2. Vosotros tragáis sin masticar por las prisas. — You all swallow without chewing because of the rush.
  3. Antes, ellos tragaban saliva antes de hablar. — Before, they used to swallow before speaking.
  4. Mañana, él tragará el polvo del camino. — Tomorrow, he/she will swallow the dust from the road.

Tragar in context

Two short dialogues that use tragar the way people really use it. Read them aloud — the verb forms will stick much faster in a conversation than in a table.

Dialogue 1: today and yesterday

  • Ana: "Hola, ¿qué tal?" — "Hello, how are you?"
  • Luis: "Hoy trago la pastilla con agua." — "Today I swallow the pill with water."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, tragué saliva antes de hablar." — "Yesterday I swallowed before speaking."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú tragarás sin masticar por las prisas?" — "And tomorrow, will you will swallow without chewing because of the rush?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros tragamos el polvo del camino." — "Tomorrow we swallow the dust from the road."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo tragaría sin masticar por las prisas si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would swallow without chewing because of the rush if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él trague la pastilla con agua." — "I hope he swallows the pill with water."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha tragado saliva antes de hablar." — "Surely. He has already has swallowed before speaking."
  • Marta: "Vale, nos vemos mañana." — "OK, see you tomorrow."

Notice how the same verb changes with the tense: the present for the plan, the conditional for the wish, the subjunctive after espero que, and the present perfect for what has already happened. That is the whole point of learning a verb across its tenses, not just in one form.

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Yo traga la pastilla con agua. — Right: Yo trago la pastilla con agua. — The person matters: traga is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is trago. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Yo tragé sin masticar por las prisas. — Right: Yo tragué sin masticar por las prisas. — In the preterite, the correct first-person form is tragué, not tragé. tragar is a spelling-change verb: g becomes gu before e, so the written form changes to keep the same sound. The regular-looking form is wrong.
  3. Wrong: Treating tragar and comer as identical in every context. — Right: Tragar means to swallow, while comer means to eat, the general verb. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: tragar fits sentences such as Trago la pastilla con agua, while comer belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy tragado sin masticar por las prisas. — Right: Yo he tragado sin masticar por las prisas. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he tragado, has tragado, ha tragado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo tragué saliva antes de hablar todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo tragaba saliva antes de hablar todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (tragaba), not the preterite. The preterite (tragué) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on tragar: four on the forms, three on the meaning, and three on spotting the correct sentence. Check the answer key below.

  1. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ la pastilla con agua. (present tense) A. trago B. tragas C. traga D. tragamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ sin masticar por las prisas. (preterite tense) A. tragué B. tragaste C. tragamos D. tragó

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ saliva antes de hablar. (future tense) A. tragará B. tragaremos C. tragarás D. tragaré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ el polvo del camino. (imperfect tense) A. tragabais B. tragábamos C. tragaba D. tragabas

  5. What does "Yo trago la pastilla con agua." mean in English? A. I swallow the pill with water. B. I swallow without chewing because of the rush. C. I swallow before speaking. D. I swallow the dust from the road.

  6. What does "Él tragó sin masticar por las prisas." mean in English? A. He/she swallowed the pill with water. B. He/she swallowed before speaking. C. He/she swallowed the dust from the road. D. He/she swallowed without chewing because of the rush.

  7. What does "Nosotros tragaremos saliva antes de hablar." mean in English? A. We will swallow without chewing because of the rush. B. We will swallow the dust from the road. C. We will swallow before speaking. D. We will swallow the pill with water.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo tragan sin masticar por las prisas. B. Yo traga sin masticar por las prisas. C. Yo trago sin masticar por las prisas.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él tragué saliva antes de hablar. B. Él tragó saliva antes de hablar. C. Él tragaron saliva antes de hablar.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo trague el polvo del camino. B. Yo trage el polvo del camino. C. Yo trague el polvo del camino.

Answer key

  1. trago — The yo present form of tragar is trago.
  2. tragó — The el preterite form of tragar is tragó.
  3. tragarás — The tu future form of tragar is tragarás.
  4. tragábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of tragar is tragábamos.
  5. I swallow the pill with water. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form trago, so the English is "I swallow the pill with water." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she swallowed without chewing because of the rush. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form tragó, so the English is "He/she swallowed without chewing because of the rush." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will swallow before speaking. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form tragaremos, so the English is "We will swallow before speaking." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo trago sin masticar por las prisas. — The correct sentence is "Yo trago sin masticar por las prisas." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él tragó saliva antes de hablar. — The correct sentence is "Él tragó saliva antes de hablar." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo trague el polvo del camino. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo trague el polvo del camino." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

What does tragar mean, and when do I use it?

Tragar means to swallow. Tragar means to swallow, and it covers swallowing a pill with water, swallowing without chewing and, figuratively, swallowing your pride or swallowing dust on a road. It is a spelling-change verb: the g becomes gu before e, so the preterite is tragué. A good first sentence to remember is Yo trago la pastilla con agua. — "I swallow the pill with water."

What is the difference between tragar and comer?

Tragar means to swallow, while comer means to eat, the general verb. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use tragar when you mean to swallow, as in Yo trago sin masticar por las prisas., and use comer for to eat, the general verb.

How do I say "I swallow" in the past?

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo tragué sin masticar por las prisas.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo tragaba saliva antes de hablar.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he tragado sin masticar por las prisas..

How do I practise tragar?

Start with the tragar conjugation page for the full tables, then the tragar in the present tense page for the tense in focus, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure. Spelling change: g becomes gu before e, so the preterite is tragué and the subjunctive is trague, never tragé.

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