Spanish For Dummies
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Spanish verbs fall into different groups, and each group is conjugated a little differently. If you’re going to master Spanish verbs like tomar, you need to be able to identify which group a verb belongs to: regular (follows regular conjugation rules for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs), stem-changing (morphs depending on how you use it in a sentence), spelling-changing (has consonant-spelling changes in some forms to follow pronunciation rules), or reflexive (reflects the action back on the subject of the sentence).

Tomar (toh-mahr) (to take/drink) is a regular -ar verb, so its conjugation is pretty straightforward. Here it is in the present tense:

The Present Tense of Tomar
Conjugation Translation
yo tomo I take
tú tomas You (informal) take
él/ella/ello/uno toma He/she/one takes
usted toma You (formal) take
nosotros tomamos We take
vosotros tomáis You all (informal) take
ellos/ellas toman They take
ustedes toman You all (formal) take

The following examples put tomar to work:

  • Usted toma mucho, mi amigo. (You drink too much, my friend.)

  • No. Yo solo tomo un poco. (No. I only drink a little.)

Need to know how to conjugate tomar in another tense? The following tables show you the preterit, imperfect, and future forms.

The Preterit Tense of Tomar
Conjugation Translation
yo tomé I took
tú tomaste You (informal) took
él/ella/ello/uno tomó He/she/one took
usted tomó You (formal) took
nosotros tomamos We took
vosotros tomasteis You all (informal) took
ellos/ellas tomaron They took
ustedes tomaron You all (formal) took

You use the preterit tense like this:

  • ¿Tomaste ese consejo en serio? (Did you take that advice seriously?)

  • Sí. Lo tomé muy en serio. (Yes. I took it very seriously.)

The Imperfect Tense of Tomar
Conjugation Translation
yo tomaba I used to take
tú tomabas You (informal) used to take
él/ella/ello/uno tomaba He/she/one used to take
usted tomaba You (formal) used to take
nosotros tomábamos We used to take
vosotros tomabais You all (informal) used to take
ellos/ellas tomaban They used to take
ustedes tomaban You all (formal) used to take

Here are some examples of the imperfect tense:

  • ¿Tomaban ellos clases de inglés por la tarde? (Did they used to take English classes in the afternoon?)

  • Sí. Ellos y yo tomábamos inglés por la tarde. (Yes. They and I used to take English in the afternoon.)

The Future Tense of Tomar
Conjugation Translation
yo tomaré I will take
tú tomarás You (informal) will take
él/ella/ello/uno tomará He/she/one will take
usted tomará You (formal) will take
nosotros tomaremos We will take
vosotros tomaréis You all (informal) will take
ellos/ellas tomarán They will take
ustedes tomarán You all (formal) will take

The following samples show the future tense in action:

  • ¿Tomarán ustedes clases de francés mañana? (Will you take French classes tomorrow?)

  • No. Tomaremos clases de español. (No. We will take Spanish classes.)

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