Tomar Conjugation | How to Conjugate Tomar in Spanish

Tomar means “to take,” “to drink,” or “to have/consume.” You will learn its fully regular -AR conjugation and its major patterns with food, transport, medicine, decisions, and actions.

Tomar conjugation at a glance

Verb type: Regular AR. Tomar keeps the stable stem tom- and takes ordinary -AR endings. Its gerund tomando — “taking / drinking” — and participle tomado — “taken / drunk” — are regular.

Tomar gerund, past participle, and infinitive

The infinitive names the verb, the gerund supports progressive constructions, and the past participle combines with haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — in compound forms. The participle tomado remains invariant in those compounds.

Form	Spanish	Natural English guide
Infinitive	tomar	to take / drink
Gerund	tomando	taking / drinking
Past participle	tomado	taken / drunk

Tomar meaning and essential uses

Tomar is highly versatile and usually transitive. It can mean taking or grasping something, receiving or accepting it, and eating or drinking: Tomo café. — “I drink coffee.”

It is also common with transport, medicine, decisions, measures, and breaks: Tomamos el tren. — “We take the train.” Toma esta medicina. — “Take this medicine.” Tomaron una decisión. — “They made a decision.”

Tomar regular conjugation pattern

The stem tom- remains unchanged throughout the core paradigm. Forms such as tomo — “I take / drink,” tomé — “I took / drank,” and tome — “that I take / drink” — use ordinary -AR endings.

There is no stem change, spelling alternation, irregular preterite stem, irregular future stem, irregular gerund, or irregular participle.

Tomar indicative and periphrastic conjugations

Tomar present tense conjugation

Present indicative (el presente de indicativo) — Use it for current situations, habits, facts, and contextually near-future reference. The table uses the verified paradigm.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	tomo	I take / drink
Tú — you, singular informal	tomas	you take / drink
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	toma	he / she takes / drinks; you take / drink (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	tomamos	we take / drink
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	tomáis	you take / drink (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	toman	they take / drink; you take / drink (plural)

• Tomo café por la mañana. — I drink coffee in the morning.

Tomar preterite conjugation

Preterite (el pretérito perfecto simple / pretérito indefinido) — Use it for completed or bounded past events. The table uses the verified paradigm.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	tomé	I took / drank
Tú — you, singular informal	tomaste	you took / drank
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	tomó	he / she took / drank; you took / drank (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	tomamos	we took / drank
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	tomasteis	you took / drank (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	tomaron	they took / drank; you took / drank (plural)

• Ayer tomé el tren de las ocho. — Yesterday I took the eight o’clock train.

Tomar imperfect conjugation

Imperfect (el pretérito imperfecto) — Use it for habitual, descriptive, background, or ongoing past situations. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus invariant tomado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	tomaba	I used to take / drink / was taking / drinking
Tú — you, singular informal	tomabas	you used to take / drink / were taking / drinking
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	tomaba	he / she used to take / drink / was taking / drinking; you used to take / drink / were taking / drinking (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	tomábamos	we used to take / drink / were taking / drinking
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	tomabais	you used to take / drink / were taking / drinking (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	tomaban	they used to take / drink / were taking / drinking; you used to take / drink / were taking / drinking (plural)

• Antes tomaba té todas las tardes. — I used to drink tea every afternoon.

Tomar present progressive

Present progressive — This verbal periphrasis focuses on an action or process in progress. Form it with present estar — “to be” — plus tomando — “taking / drinking.”

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	estoy tomando	I am taking / drinking
Tú — you, singular informal	estás tomando	you are taking / drinking
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	está tomando	he / she is taking / drinking; you are taking / drinking (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	estamos tomando	we are taking / drinking
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	estáis tomando	you are taking / drinking (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	están tomando	they are taking / drinking; you are taking / drinking (plural)

• Estoy tomando notas durante la reunión. — I am taking notes during the meeting.

Tomar near future conjugation

Near future — This verbal periphrasis expresses an intention, plan, or expected event. Form it with present ir — “to go” — plus a — “to” — and tomar.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	voy a tomar	I am going to take / drink
Tú — you, singular informal	vas a tomar	you are going to take / drink
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	va a tomar	he / she is going to take / drink; you are going to take / drink (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	vamos a tomar	we are going to take / drink
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	vais a tomar	you are going to take / drink (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	van a tomar	they are going to take / drink; you are going to take / drink (plural)

• Voy a tomar un descanso. — I am going to take a break.

Tomar future tense conjugation

Simple future (el futuro simple) — Use it for future reference and, where useful, probability. The table uses the verified paradigm.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	tomaré	I will take / drink
Tú — you, singular informal	tomarás	you will take / drink
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	tomará	he / she will take / drink; you will take / drink (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	tomaremos	we will take / drink
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	tomaréis	you will take / drink (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	tomarán	they will take / drink; you will take / drink (plural)

• Tomaremos una decisión mañana. — We will make a decision tomorrow.

Tomar conditional conjugation

Conditional (el condicional simple) — Use it for hypothetical outcomes, softened statements, or related conditional meanings. The table uses the verified paradigm.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	tomaría	I would take / drink
Tú — you, singular informal	tomarías	you would take / drink
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	tomaría	he / she would take / drink; you would take / drink (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	tomaríamos	we would take / drink
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	tomaríais	you would take / drink (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	tomarían	they would take / drink; you would take / drink (plural)

• Tomaría otra ruta en tu situación. — I would take another route in your situation.

Tomar present perfect conjugation

Present perfect (el pretérito perfecto compuesto) — Use it for completed events connected to a present reference frame; regional distribution varies. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus invariant tomado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	he tomado	I have taken / drunk
Tú — you, singular informal	has tomado	you have taken / drunk
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	ha tomado	he / she has taken / drunk; you have taken / drunk (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hemos tomado	we have taken / drunk
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habéis tomado	you have taken / drunk (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	han tomado	they have taken / drunk; you have taken / drunk (plural)

• He tomado esta medicina hoy. — I have taken this medicine today.

Tomar past perfect conjugation

Past perfect (el pretérito pluscuamperfecto) — Use it for an event completed before another past reference point. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus invariant tomado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	había tomado	I had taken / drunk
Tú — you, singular informal	habías tomado	you had taken / drunk
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	había tomado	he / she had taken / drunk; you had taken / drunk (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habíamos tomado	we had taken / drunk
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habíais tomado	you had taken / drunk (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habían tomado	they had taken / drunk; you had taken / drunk (plural)

• Ya habíamos tomado una decisión. — We had already made a decision.

Tomar future perfect conjugation

Future perfect (el futuro perfecto) — Use it for an event expected to be completed before a future reference point. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus invariant tomado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	habré tomado	I will have taken / drunk
Tú — you, singular informal	habrás tomado	you will have taken / drunk
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	habrá tomado	he / she will have taken / drunk; you will have taken / drunk (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habremos tomado	we will have taken / drunk
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habréis tomado	you will have taken / drunk (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habrán tomado	they will have taken / drunk; you will have taken / drunk (plural)

• Para entonces habrán tomado todas las medidas necesarias. — By then they will have taken all the necessary measures.

Tomar conditional perfect conjugation

Conditional perfect (el condicional compuesto) — Use it for a hypothetical completed outcome. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus invariant tomado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	habría tomado	I would have taken / drunk
Tú — you, singular informal	habrías tomado	you would have taken / drunk
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	habría tomado	he / she would have taken / drunk; you would have taken / drunk (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	habríamos tomado	we would have taken / drunk
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	habríais tomado	you would have taken / drunk (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	habrían tomado	they would have taken / drunk; you would have taken / drunk (plural)

• Habría tomado el autobús con mal tiempo. — I would have taken the bus in bad weather.

Tomar subjunctive conjugations

Tomar present subjunctive conjugation

Present subjunctive (el presente de subjuntivo) — Use it in subordinate environments involving wishes, influence, emotion, doubt or denial, evaluation, necessity, possibility, or non-specific reference. The table uses the verified paradigm.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	tome	that I take / drink
Tú — you, singular informal	tomes	that you take / drink
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	tome	that he / she take / drink; that you take / drink (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	tomemos	that we take / drink
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	toméis	that you take / drink (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	tomen	that they take / drink; that you take / drink (plural)

• Quiero que tomes una decisión. — I want you to make a decision.

Tomar imperfect subjunctive conjugation

Imperfect subjunctive (el imperfecto de subjuntivo) — The main table uses the -ra series. The accepted -se series is also valid in many contexts and is demonstrated after the table. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus invariant tomado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	tomara	that I took / drank
Tú — you, singular informal	tomaras	that you took / drank
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	tomara	that he / she took / drank; that you took / drank (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	tomáramos	that we took / drank
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	tomarais	that you took / drank (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	tomaran	that they took / drank; that you took / drank (plural)

• Preferían que tomáramos el tren. — They preferred that we take the train.
• Era mejor que tomases la medicina con comida. — It was better for you to take the medicine with food.

Tomar future subjunctive conjugation

Future subjunctive (el futuro de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. It survives mainly in formal, legal, proverbial, literary, or historical contexts. These rare reference forms belong mainly to formal, legal, proverbial, literary, or historical registers.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	tomare	if / when I should take / drink
Tú — you, singular informal	tomares	if / when you should take / drink
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	tomare	if / when he / she should take / drink; if / when you should take / drink (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	tomáremos	if / when we should take / drink
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	tomareis	if / when you should take / drink (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	tomaren	if / when they should take / drink; if / when you should take / drink (plural)

• Quien tomare una decisión deberá justificarla. — Whoever should make a decision must justify it.

Tomar present perfect subjunctive conjugation

Present perfect subjunctive (el pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo) — Use it when a completed event appears inside a present- or future-oriented subjunctive environment. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus invariant tomado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	haya tomado	that I have taken / drunk
Tú — you, singular informal	hayas tomado	that you have taken / drunk
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	haya tomado	that he / she has taken / drunk; that you have taken / drunk (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hayamos tomado	that we have taken / drunk
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hayáis tomado	that you have taken / drunk (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hayan tomado	that they have taken / drunk; that you have taken / drunk (plural)

• Me alegra que hayas tomado notas. — I am glad that you took notes.

Tomar past perfect subjunctive conjugation

Past perfect subjunctive (el pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo) — The main table uses hubiera; hubiese is an accepted auxiliary alternative in many contexts and is demonstrated after the table. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus invariant tomado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	hubiera tomado	that I had taken / drunk
Tú — you, singular informal	hubieras tomado	that you had taken / drunk
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	hubiera tomado	that he / she had taken / drunk; that you had taken / drunk (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hubiéramos tomado	that we had taken / drunk
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hubierais tomado	that you had taken / drunk (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hubieran tomado	that they had taken / drunk; that you had taken / drunk (plural)

• Si hubiera tomado el tren anterior, habría llegado a tiempo. — If I had taken the earlier train, I would have arrived on time.
• Si hubieses tomado la medicina, quizá te sentirías mejor. — If you had taken the medicine, perhaps you would feel better.

Tomar future perfect subjunctive conjugation

Future perfect subjunctive (el futuro perfecto de subjuntivo) — Rare in modern everyday Spanish. Treat it as a formal or historical reference form, not an everyday conversational target. Form it with the appropriate form of haber — “to have” as an auxiliary — plus invariant tomado.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Yo — I	hubiere tomado	if / when I should have taken / drunk
Tú — you, singular informal	hubieres tomado	if / when you should have taken / drunk
Él / Ella / Usted — he / she / you, singular formal	hubiere tomado	if / when he / she should have taken / drunk; if / when you should have taken / drunk (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we	hubiéremos tomado	if / when we should have taken / drunk
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	hubiereis tomado	if / when you should have taken / drunk (plural)
Ellos / Ellas / Ustedes — they / you, plural	hubieren tomado	if / when they should have taken / drunk; if / when you should have taken / drunk (plural)

• Si hubieren tomado medidas adicionales, deberán documentarlas. — If they should have taken additional measures, they must document them.

Tomar imperative and commands

Commands address another person directly. The nosotros/nosotras row is a present-subjunctive form used with exhortative “let’s…” value.

Tomar affirmative commands

Use the verified affirmative command forms for direct instructions when the target meaning supports them naturally.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	toma	take
Usted — you, singular formal	tome	take (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	tomemos	let’s take
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	tomad	take (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	tomen	take (plural)

• Toma asiento, por favor. — Take a seat, please.

Tomar negative commands

Negative commands use subjunctive-based forms, with no — “not / do not” — before the verb.

Pronoun and English meaning	Spanish	Natural English guide
Tú — you, singular informal	no tomes	do not take
Usted — you, singular formal	no tome	do not take (formal)
Nosotros / Nosotras — we; let’s…	no tomemos	let’s not take
Vosotros / Vosotras — you, plural informal, mainly Spain	no toméis	do not take (plural, mainly Spain)
Ustedes — you, plural	no tomen	do not take (plural)

• No tomes esa decisión demasiado rápido. — Do not make that decision too quickly.

Common constructions with Tomar

These patterns show sentence frames that materially affect how the target verb is used.

• tomar algo. — to take / drink / consume something.
• tomar un tren / autobús / taxi. — to take a train / bus / taxi.
• tomar una decisión / medida / descanso. — to make a decision / take a measure / take a break.
• tomar medicina. — to take medicine.

Example sentences with Tomar

These examples reinforce the target verb across useful forms and contexts already taught in the lesson.

• ¿Quieres tomar algo? — Do you want something to drink?
• Tomamos el autobús cada mañana. — We take the bus every morning.
• Necesito tomar una decisión. — I need to make a decision.
• Espero que tomes esta medicina con comida. — I hope you take this medicine with food.
• Han tomado medidas importantes. — They have taken important measures.
• Toma notas mientras escuchas. — Take notes while you listen.

Regional and usage notes for Tomar

The core tables retain tú, usted, vosotros/vosotras, and ustedes for project comparability. Voseo changes some second-person singular forms in regions where vos — “you, singular informal” — is used.

• Vos tomás café por la mañana. — You drink coffee in the morning. (voseo)
• Tomá asiento, por favor. — Take a seat, please. (affirmative vos command)

Tomar is fully regular. Its challenge is semantic breadth rather than morphology: context determines whether it means taking, drinking, consuming, using transport, taking medicine, or forming common expressions such as tomar una decisión.