Spanish · Pronunciation Guide

How do you pronounce "tomar" in Spanish?

Q: How do you pronounce tomar in Spanish?

tomar is pronounced with the stress described below. In IPA it is written /toˈmaɾ/. It means “to take / to drink.” toh-MAR, stress on the second syllable, with an unaspirated dental t.

toh-MAR, stress on the second syllable, with an unaspirated dental t.

tomar /toˈmaɾ/

Two syllables, to-MAR, beat on the last because of the r ending. This verb is entirely regular, so the stress behaves predictably through the whole conjugation, always landing on the second-to-last syllable of the form in question: TO-mo, TO-mas, to-MA-mos. No accents needed anywhere in the present tense.

Listen: tomar

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Sound it out

to The tongue tip on the upper front teeth for the t, with no puff of air, then a pure "oh" that stays in one position.

ma A normal m and a wide-open "ah", carrying the stress.

r A single quick flick of the tongue tip to finish.

Hear it in a sentence

Voy a tomar el autobús.

I'm going to take the bus.

Listen: Voy a tomar el autobús.

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"Voy a tomar el autobús" shows the breadth of this verb — you take a bus, but "tomar" equally covers drinking a coffee. "Autobús" carries an accent because it ends in s and the default would otherwise stress the second-to-last syllable; the mark pulls the beat to the final BÚS. The au in it glides into one syllable: OW-to-BOOS.

Where English speakers slip

English speakers reach for the shape of the name Thomas and produce "TOH-mar", front-stressed with an aspirated t. Both need fixing: dry, dental t and the beat at the end. The bigger issue is semantic — "tomar" spreads across taking, drinking, catching transport, and making decisions, so translating it as one English verb will constantly mislead you.