tragar Preterite Conjugation
tragar — to swallow
The preterite of tragar features a spelling change in the 'yo' form (tragué) to keep the hard 'g' sound.
tragar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use this to describe a specific instance where someone swallowed something or accepted a difficult situation in the past.
Notes on tragar in the Preterite
This is a 'g' to 'gu' spelling change verb. In the 'yo' form, we add a 'u' (tragué) so it doesn't sound like 'tra-hay'. All other forms are regular.
Example Sentences
Me tragué una espina de pescado por accidente.
I swallowed a fish bone by accident.
yo
El niño se tragó una moneda.
The boy swallowed a coin.
él/ella/usted
Tragamos mucha saliva antes de hablar.
We swallowed hard (swallowed a lot of saliva) before speaking.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Writing 'tragé' for the first person.
Correct: tragué
Why: Without the 'u', the 'g' followed by 'e' sounds like an 'h' or 'j'. The 'u' preserves the hard 'g' sound of the infinitive.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: trago
The present tense of tragar is regular in all forms: trago, tragas, traga, tragamos, tragáis, tragan.
Imperfect
yo: tragaba
The imperfect of tragar is fully regular: tragaba, tragabas, tragaba, tragábamos, tragabais, tragaban.
Future
yo: tragaré
The future of tragar is regular: tragaré, tragarás, tragará, tragaremos, tragaréis, tragarán.
Conditional
yo: tragaría
The conditional of tragar is regular: tragaría, tragarías, tragaría, tragaríamos, tragaríais, tragarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: trague
The present subjunctive of tragar uses a 'gu' spelling in all forms: trague, tragues, trague, traguemos, traguéis, traguen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: tragara
The imperfect subjunctive of tragar is regular based on the preterite stem: tragara, tragaras, tragara, tragáramos, tragarais, tragaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: traga
The imperative of tragar gives commands: traga (tú), tragad (vosotros), trague (usted).
Negative Imperative
yo: no tragues
The negative imperative of tragar uses the 'gu' spelling: no tragues, no trague, no traguemos, no traguéis, no traguen.