Tragar Present Tense Conjugation in Spanish

The present tense of tragar — "to swallow" in English — is the form you need for what happens now, for habits and for general truths. This page gives you the full present conjugation table for tragar with all six persons, explains exactly how the tense is formed for this verb, shows when to use it with real examples, and finishes with a quiz so you can test yourself. 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. To see it in a real sentence: Él traga la pastilla con agua. — "He/she swallows the pill with water." Work through the table below, then the formation notes, the usage rules and the contrast with the preterite, and test yourself at the end.

Present tense conjugation table: tragar

Every person of tragar in the present tense. The gerund is tragando and the past participle is tragado.

Present indicative

Person Form
yo trago
tú tragas
él/ella/Ud. traga
nosotros/as tragamos
vosotros/as tragáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. tragan

How the present indicative of tragar is formed

The present indicative of tragar is built from the stem trag- plus the present endings for -ar verbs. Take the infinitive, drop the -ar ending, and add the ending that matches the person. The table below shows the endings, and the full table above shows them attached to the stem.

Person Ending Form
yo -o trago
tú -as tragas
él/ella/Ud. -a traga
nosotros/as -amos tragamos
vosotros/as -áis tragáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. -an tragan

tragar is a spelling-change verb: g becomes gu before e. That is why the written form changes in some persons — the sound stays the same, and only the spelling adapts. In this tense, watch the first-person form trago in particular.

The gerund of tragar is tragando and the past participle is tragado. Both are regular for this verb, and the participle is the form you need for all the perfect tenses with haber.

When to use the present tense of tragar

The present tense is not one single use — it covers several situations, and tragar appears in all of them. The five uses below are the ones you will meet most often, each with an example that shows the verb in a natural sentence.

Habits and routines

The present tense describes things you do regularly. If you do it every day, every week or every morning, the present is the tense to use. For tragar, this use looks like this: "Yo trago la pastilla con agua." — "I swallow the pill with water." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

General facts

The present tense states facts that are generally true, not tied to one moment. It is the tense for definitions and permanent situations. For tragar, this use looks like this: "Él traga sin masticar por las prisas." — "He/she swallows without chewing because of the rush." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

What is happening now

The present tense also covers what is happening at this moment, especially with verbs that describe an action in progress. For tragar, this use looks like this: "Nosotros tragamos saliva antes de hablar." — "We swallow before speaking." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

Timetables and schedules

The present tense is used for fixed plans and timetables, such as trains, classes and opening times, even when they refer to the future. For tragar, this use looks like this: "Ellos tragan el polvo del camino." — "They swallow the dust from the road." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

Instructions and requests

The present tense appears in instructions and polite requests, where it sounds softer than a direct command. For tragar, this use looks like this: "Tú tragas la pastilla con agua." — "You swallow the pill with water." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

The present tense vs the preterite

Learners often mix up the present and the preterite with tragar. The rule is simple: the present is for habits, facts and what is happening now, while the preterite is for one finished action in the past. The three pairs below show the same idea in both tenses, so you can feel the difference.

Pair 1: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Yo trago la pastilla con agua." — "I swallow the pill with water."
  • Preterite: "Yo tragué la pastilla con agua." — "I swallowed the pill with water." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Pair 2: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Él traga sin masticar por las prisas." — "He/she swallows without chewing because of the rush."
  • Preterite: "Él tragó sin masticar por las prisas." — "He/she swallowed without chewing because of the rush." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Pair 3: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Nosotros tragamos saliva antes de hablar." — "We swallow before speaking."
  • Preterite: "Nosotros tragamos saliva antes de hablar." — "We swallowed before speaking." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Example sentences in the present tense

Eight natural sentences with tragar in the present tense only. Each one uses a form from the table above.

  1. Yo trago la pastilla con agua. — I swallow the pill with water.
  2. Tú tragas sin masticar por las prisas. — You swallow without chewing because of the rush.
  3. Él traga saliva antes de hablar. — He/she swallows before speaking.
  4. Nosotros tragamos el polvo del camino. — We swallow the dust from the road.
  5. Vosotros tragáis la pastilla con agua. — You all swallow the pill with water.
  6. Ellos tragan sin masticar por las prisas. — They swallow without chewing because of the rush.
  7. Yo trago saliva antes de hablar. — I swallow before speaking.
  8. Él traga el polvo del camino. — He/she swallows the dust from the road.

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Vosotros tragais sin masticar por las prisas. — Right: Vosotros tragáis sin masticar por las prisas. — The vosotros present form carries a written accent: tragáis, not tragais.
  2. Wrong: Ayer, yo trago saliva antes de hablar. — Right: Ayer, yo tragué saliva antes de hablar. — Ayer means yesterday, so it needs the preterite (tragué), not the present (trago). The present is for now, not for yesterday.
  3. 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.
  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. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.

Quiz: test yourself

Eight questions on the present tense of tragar. Choose the right form, then 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: Tú ___ sin masticar por las prisas. (present tense) A. tragas B. trago C. traga D. tragamos

  3. Complete the sentence: Él ___ saliva antes de hablar. (present tense) A. traga B. trago C. tragas D. tragamos

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ el polvo del camino. (present tense) A. tragamos B. trago C. tragas D. traga

  5. Complete the sentence: Vosotros ___ la pastilla con agua. (present tense) A. tragáis B. trago C. tragas D. traga

  6. Complete the sentence: Ellos ___ sin masticar por las prisas. (present tense) A. tragan B. trago C. tragas D. traga

  7. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ saliva antes de hablar. (present tense) A. trago B. tragas C. traga D. tragamos

  8. Complete the sentence: Él ___ el polvo del camino. (present tense) A. traga B. trago C. tragas D. tragamos

Answer key

  1. trago — The yo present form of tragar is trago. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  2. tragas — The tu present form of tragar is tragas. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  3. traga — The el present form of tragar is traga. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  4. tragamos — The nosotros present form of tragar is tragamos. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  5. tragáis — The vosotros present form of tragar is tragáis. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  6. tragan — The ellos present form of tragar is tragan. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  7. trago — The yo present form of tragar is trago. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  8. traga — The el present form of tragar is traga. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.

Frequently asked questions

When do I use the present tense of tragar?

Use the present tense of tragar for habits, facts and what is happening now. For example: Yo trago la pastilla con agua. — "I swallow the pill with water." The usage rules above give five situations with examples.

How is the present tense of tragar formed?

Take the stem trag- and add the present endings for -ar verbs. The full table is at the top of this page. Remember the spelling change: g becomes gu before e.

What is the difference between the present and the preterite of tragar?

The present describes a habit or a present fact, while the preterite describes a finished action. Compare Yo trago sin masticar por las prisas. with Yo tragué sin masticar por las prisas. — the verb is the same, but the time meaning changes.

How do I practise the present tense of tragar?

Drill the six forms in the table above until you can say them without looking, then use the tragar examples and quiz page for more sentences, and test yourself with the Tragar conjugation page for the full picture across all tenses.

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