Commonly confused

Tomar vs Coger: taking and catching in Spanish

Tomar and coger both cover the idea of "to take" in Spanish, but there is a crucial regional consideration: coger is perfectly standard in Spain, but in Latin America it has a vulgar meaning. In Latin America, use tomar instead. Beyond that, both verbs have distinct uses beyond just "to take".

Key distinction

Tomar is safe everywhere; coger is standard in Spain but avoid it in Latin America. Both can mean "to take" but with different connotations.

Present tense — side by side

tomar to take / to drink
yo tomo
tú tomas
él/ella toma
nosotros tomamos
vosotros tomáis
ellos/ellas toman
Full conjugation table →
coger to take / to grab
yo cojo
tú coges
él/ella coge
nosotros cogemos
vosotros cogéis
ellos/ellas cogen
Full conjugation table →

When to use tomar

Taking transport (universal in all Spanish-speaking countries)

  • Tomo el metro todos los días. I take the metro every day.
  • ¿Tomamos un taxi? Shall we take a taxi?

Eating, drinking, or consuming

  • ¿Tomas café? Do you drink coffee / will you have a coffee?
  • Toma este medicamento dos veces al día. Take this medication twice a day.

Taking a decision, measure, or course of action

  • Tomaron una decisión difícil. They made a difficult decision.
  • Hay que tomar medidas. Measures need to be taken.

When to use coger

Grabbing or picking something up (Spain)

  • Coge ese libro, por favor. Grab that book, please. (Spain)
  • Cogí las llaves y salí. I grabbed the keys and left. (Spain)

Catching a cold or illness (Spain)

  • He cogido un resfriado. I've caught a cold. (Spain)

Understanding / getting something (Spain)

  • ¿Lo coges? Do you get it / understand? (Spain)

Common mistakes to avoid

✗ Coger el bus (in Latin America) ✓ Tomar el bus

In Latin American Spanish, coger has a vulgar meaning. Always use tomar for transport in Latin America.

✗ Tomar el teléfono (in urgent context) ✓ Coger el teléfono (Spain) / Contestar el teléfono

In Spain, "coger el teléfono" means to pick up the phone. Elsewhere, use "contestar" or "atender el teléfono".

Memory trick

When in doubt — or in Latin America — use tomar. It is always safe. Coger is fine in Spain but context-dependent elsewhere.

Regional variation matters here

This is one of the clearest examples of how important regional awareness is in Spanish. A sentence that is perfectly innocent in Spain (Coge el bus) can cause embarrassment in Mexico or Argentina. The safest rule: use tomar whenever possible, and only use coger if you are confident you're in a Spain-Spanish context.

Other "take" verbs

Spanish has a rich family of verbs for taking and carrying: llevar (to take/carry somewhere), traer (to bring), sacar (to take out), quitar (to take away/remove), recoger (to pick up/collect). See our llevar vs traer guide for that pair.

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More commonly confused verbs

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← All confused verb guides