Tomar Conjugation 101: Conjugate Tomar in Spanish

Tomar is a basic verb that you’ll use in plenty of daily-life situations. Therefore, in this guide, you’ll learn the most common conjugations of ‘tomar’. Here is a summary of what we’ll cover:

• Tomar Overview 
• Indicative Tenses of Tomar Conjugations
  • Present tense
  • Preterite tense
  • Imperfect tense
  • Near Future tense
  • Future tense
  • Conditional tense
  • Present Perfect tense
  • Past Perfect tense
  • Future Perfect tense
  • Conditional Perfect tense
  • Progressive tenses
• Subjunctive Tenses of Tomar Conjugations 
  • Present Subjunctive tense
  • Present Perfect Subjunctive tense
  • Imperfect Subjunctive tense
  • Past Perfect Subjunctive tense
• Imperative (Commands) of Tomar Conjugations
  • Affirmative Commands
  • Negative Commands
• Uses & Examples
• Download Tomar Conjugation Tables & Uses Cheat sheets
• Tomar Conjugation Practice Quiz

Take Note: There are many tenses in Spanish. However, we don’t use them all. Many are simply old and outdated. As a result, in this guide, you’ll only learn the tenses you need to know to become fluent in Spanish. 

Overview of Tomar

Depending on the sentence, tomar can be translated as ‘to take’, ‘to drink’, or ‘to have’. For simplicity, I’ll only use the one translation in the conjugation examples included in the tables below. You can check when to apply the other meanings in the Uses & Examples section.

Indicative Conjugations of Tomar

Present tense

In the present tense, tomar is used to talk about the things people take or drink. For example: siempre tomo el camión de las 7.

Preterite tense

The preterite conjugations of tomar are regular. In the preterite tense, ‘tomar’ refers to things or medication people took or drinks they had at a specific moment in the past. For instance: ¿quién se tomó mi café?

Imperfect tense

 The imperfect tense of tomar describes the things you used to take or drink repeatedly or at an unspecified moment in the past. Mis hermanos tomaban un vaso de leche antes de dormir. The imperfect conjugations of ‘tomar’ can be translated as ‘used to take’ or ‘took’.

Near future

 The near or immediate future of tomar is used to talk about things you intend to take or drinks you want to have soon in the future. For example: apenas voy a tomar el camión. The near future is formed with ir (present) + a + tomar and can be translated as “going to take”.

Future simple tense

Tomar in the future tense expresses that someone will take something or will have a drink at some point in the future. Creo que tomaremos el siguiente tren.

Conditional tense

 The conditional forms of tomar allow you to express that someone would take or drink something if a given circumstance is fulfilled. For example: si yo fuera tú, no tomaría ese camión.

Present perfect tense

When using the present perfect tense of ‘tomar’, you’re referring to things or drinks you have or haven’t taken. No nos hemos tomado la medicina. With this verb, the formula for the present perfect in Spanish is: ‘haber’ in the present tense + tomado.

Past perfect

The past perfect of ‘tomar’ allows you to explain that someone took something before some other reference point in the past. Cuando llegué, Jodie ya había tomado tu celular. The formula for conjugating to the past perfect tense is haber (imperfect form) + tomado (tomar’s past participle form).

Future perfect

Tomar’s future perfect conjugations are formed by conjugating haber to the future tense and adding tomado (the past participle of ‘tomar’). With the future perfect, ‘tomar’ communicates that someone will take something by or before a certain time in the future. For example: a estas horas, Stephie ya habrá tomado su avión.

Conditional perfect

The conditional perfect conjugations of ‘tomar’ are used to talk about things you would have taken if a past condition had been met. For instance, de haber podido, habríamos tomado el camión de las 9.

Progressive tenses

The progressive tenses forms of ‘tomar’ are used to express that someone is taking something at the moment of speaking. For example: mamá, ¿qué estás tomando? The progressive tenses are formed with the structure: estar (conjugated) + gerund form of tomar (tomando).

Tomar Subjunctive Conjugations

In Spanish, the subjunctive is used to talk about wishes, hypothetical situations or express uncertainty. The conjugation charts below show the subjunctive forms of tomar. 

Present subjunctive

Tomar to the present subjunctive allows you to express wishes, suggestions and expectations about what you want people to take. For instance: te sugiero que no tomes de esa botella.

Present perfect subjunctive

Haber in the present subjunctive + tomado is the structure you should use to build the present perfect subjunctive form of ‘tomar’. With this tense, ‘tomar’ implies uncertainty about the things people have taken. ¿Quién crees que haya tomado tu cartera?

Imperfect subjunctive

The imperfect subjunctive of ‘tomar’ can be used to talk about things we wished someone took or to express uncertainty in the past. ¿Qué suéter querías que tomara?

The imperfect subjunctive has two conjugation models depending on which type of Spanish you’re using:

Latin American Spanish version

Note: The table above doesn’t include the conjugation for vosotros because this pronoun is not used in Latin American Spanish.

Castilian Spanish version

Past perfect subjunctive

In the past perfect subjunctive, tomar communicates that someone would have taken something if a past circumstance was met. These conjugations can also be used to talk about wishes or express regret about things you didn’t take. ¡No inventes, hubieras tomado otro camión!

Tomar Imperative Conjugations

The Spanish imperative mood is used to instruct people on what to do (affirmative imperative) and what not to do (negative imperative).

Affirmative commands

To order people to drink or take something, you must use the affirmative imperative of ‘tomar’. Tómate las pastillas. 

Negative commands

Use the negative imperative to tell people what not to take or drink. For example: no tomen las cosas de su hermana.

Meanings of Tomar & Examples

With the conjugations of tomar in mind, it’s time for you to learn the different applications of this verb. 

1. As a synonym of ‘to take’ or ‘to grab’

[Tomar conjugated] + [complement]

¿Quién tomó mis llaves? 
Who took my keys?

¿Ya te has tomado el medicamento?
Have you taken the medicine already?

Ojalá te tomaras las cosas más en serio. 
I wish you took things more seriously. 

Tobey y James no tomaron la noticia muy bien. 
Tobey and James didn’t take the news very well. 

Take Note: Like ‘to take’, the verb tomar has multiple applications in Spanish. Some of the most common contexts where you can use this verb is when referring to grabbing objects, making decisions, taking the bus or meds. 

2. Referring to the activity of drinking

¿Qué desea tomar?
What do you wish to drink?

Cuando éramos niños, mi papá tomaba mucho. 
When we were kids, dad used to drink a lot. 

Perla no quiere que los niños tomen más agua. 
Perla doesn’t want the kids to drink more water. 

Download Tomar Conjugation Tables & Uses Cheat sheets

I’ve created a PDF for you to download containing all of the conjugation tables, verb characteristics, and uses so you can study it at your own pace!

Download Conjugations PDF

Practice Quiz: Tomar Conjugation

Take our ‘tomar’ conjugation practice quiz to put your skills to the test and expand your working knowledge of tenses with this verb.