Palabra Lexi · common words in Spanish
How to say "to take" in Spanish
"To take" in Spanish is tomar, pronounced toh-MAHR (stress on the syllable in capitals). Its dictionary meaning: to take, to drink.
| Spanish | tomar |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | toh-MAHR |
| Meaning | to take, to drink |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Frequency | #53 in the Palabra list of common Spanish words |
Pronunciation is spelled out in English, one syllable at a time, with the stressed syllable in capitals. The speaker button uses your browser's built-in Spanish voice.
How to pronounce tomar
Tomar is pronounced toh-MAHR, in IPA /toˈmaɾ/. Tomar has two syllables, toh-MAHR, with the stress on the second. There is no written accent because the word follows the basic rule: words ending in a consonant other than -n or -s are stressed on the last syllable.
Listen: normal and slow speed, in your browser's Spanish voice. IPA: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.
Example sentences
Tomar un café
to have a coffee
Voy a tomar el libro
I am going to take the book.
Tomo jarabe para la tos.
I take cough syrup.
"To take" in Spain and Latin America
Tomar is to take or have (a bus, a coffee); llevar is to take something somewhere. In Spain coger is the everyday "to take, to catch", but in much of Latin America it is vulgar, so tomar is the safe choice.
Regional words and roots: Diccionario de la lengua española (RAE). Spanish varies by region, so treat these as the most common patterns, not strict rules.
How to remember tomar
tomar [toh-MAHR] sounds like the English “tomato”. Picture this:
You take a tomato from the crate and it fizzes like soda — so you drink it.
A sound-alike plus a vivid scene is the keyword method, a well-studied way to learn vocabulary. How it works.
Practice tomar
Two quick games, right here: no sign-up, nothing is sent anywhere.