coger Preterite Conjugation
coger — to take
The preterite of coger is regular: cogí, cogiste, cogió, cogimos, cogisteis, cogieron.
coger Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite for specific, completed actions of taking or catching something, such as catching a bus at a specific time or picking up an object once.
Notes on coger in the Preterite
In the preterite, coger is completely regular. Unlike the present tense, the 'g' remains a 'g' throughout because it is followed by 'i' or 'io', which preserves the soft 'h' sound naturally.
Example Sentences
Ayer cogí el autobús a las ocho.
Yesterday I took the bus at eight.
yo
¿Cogiste las llaves de la mesa?
Did you pick up the keys from the table?
tú
Ellos cogieron un resfriado en el viaje.
They caught a cold on the trip.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using 'cojí' with a 'j'.
Correct: The correct spelling is 'cogí'.
Why: Learners often over-correct based on the present tense 'cojo', but in the preterite, the 'g' followed by 'i' already makes the correct sound.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: cojo
Coger is irregular in the 'yo' form (cojo) but regular for all other persons.
Imperfect
yo: cogía
The imperfect of coger is regular: cogía, cogías, cogía, cogíamos, cogíais, cogían.
Future
yo: cogeré
The future tense of coger is regular: cogeré, cogerás, cogerá, cogeremos, cogeréis, cogerán.
Conditional
yo: cogería
The conditional of coger is regular: cogería, cogerías, cogería, cogeríamos, cogeríais, cogerían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: coja
The present subjunctive of coger uses 'j' in all forms: coja, cojas, coja, cojamos, cojáis, cojan.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: cogiera
The imperfect subjunctive of coger is regular based on the preterite: cogiera, cogieras, cogiera, cogiéramos, cogierais, cogieran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: coge
The imperative of coger uses 'g' for 'tú' (coge) and 'j' for 'usted' (coja).
Negative Imperative
yo: no cojas
The negative imperative of coger always uses 'j': no cojas, no coja, no cojamos, no cojáis, no cojan.