tomar
Spanish, verb/toˈmaɾ/
tomar is spelled T-O-M-A-R (5 letters) and appears 191 times per million words in written Spanish, the 431st most frequent Spanish word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Tomar is a Spanish verb meaning “to take (put under one's physical or mental control, often in one's hands)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) defines it as “Coger alguna cosa con la mano”.
What does tomar mean in English?
verb
- 1
to take (put under one's physical or mental control, often in one's hands)
Near-synonyms: recoger, agarrar, see also sostener, sujetar, mantener (“hold”)
- 2
Latin-AmericaSpainto draw from, take, derive
En la creación de Star Wars, se tomaron* elementos del cine de samuráis.
- 3
Latin-Americato grip, grasp, grab
Near-synonyms: sostener, sujetar, mantener (“hold”)
- 4
to select, choose
Tomé la decisión de quedarme.
- 5
to seize, capture
El enemigo tomó la ciudad con sus tropas.
- 6
to take (a path, etc)
Toma la carretera de la derecha para llegar antes a la ciudad.
- 7
to take (use as a means of transportation (when one isn't the driver))
Tomé un taxi (para ir) a casa.
- 8
colloquialto take, consume, drink (mostly used with drinks and medication)
No se olvide de tomarse sus pastillas.
Source: English Wiktionary, Spanish section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Spanish dictionaries define it
verb: 1. Coger alguna cosa con la mano. 2. Coger, aunque no sea con la mano. 3. Recibir o aceptar. 4. Unido con los nombres de alimentos, significa alimentarse con ellos, comerlos o beberlos, como tomar chocolate, café, etc.
verb: 1. Ingerir alcohol.
The definition in the Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), in Spanish.
Source: Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of tomar
- tomo first-person present singular
- tomé first-person preterite singular
- tomado participle past
- tomando gerund
- tomada feminine participle past
- tomados masculine participle past
- tomadas feminine participle past
- tomas indicative informal present
- tomás indicative informal present
- toma indicative present singular
- tomamos first-person indicative plural
- tomáis indicative plural present
- toman indicative plural present
- tomaba first-person imperfect indicative
- tomabas imperfect indicative second-person
- tomábamos first-person imperfect indicative
- tomabais imperfect indicative plural
- tomaban imperfect indicative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce tomar?
- /toˈmaɾ/
- [t̪oˈmaɾ]
Sources: English Wiktionary, Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to tomar
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is tomar in Spanish?
tomar appears 191 times per million words in written Spanish.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).