Beber or Tomar?

KelllaurBailar

September 10, 2015

Tengo una pregunta para mi nuevo amigos aqui:

Hello everyone! I just enrolled here on Rocket Spanish a couple of days ago. In all of the past curricular I've used, the verb for "to drink" has been "beber". Then I heard that "tomar" is also "to drink." Are they the same? Is there a difference?

Gracias!

ricardo-rich

September 10, 2015

Hola Laura,

¡Bienvenida al foro!. They're both used and it depends on the region. I'm always asked in the Mexican and Salvadoran restaurants my wife and I go to:. ¿Para tomar? In Spain and elsewhere, beber.

Saludos,

Rciardo

KelllaurBailar

September 11, 2015

¡Gracias por la información! I knew the verb conjugations with nosotros/vosotros varied between different countries, but I didn't know that similar situations could apply with verbs as well...neat!

Thanks again!
Laura

Dan-H24

September 11, 2015

In my favorite Cuban restaurant here Estela always asks me, "¿quieres para tomar? and the Peruana I talk with says that in her country "tomar" is far more frequently used, in accordance with Ricardo's experience. I wonder if this is one of those differences that has evolved between Latin American and Spanish Spanish.

Y sí, ¡bienvenidos Laura!

Dan

marieg-rocket languages

September 11, 2015

Hi Laura,

Welcome to the Rocket Spanish community!!! According to the RAE, they are pretty much synonyms when it comes to drinks. However, keep in mind that "tomar" has other meanings like "to take, grab, pick, catch, have, etc"

You can also use "tomar" as "to eat".
Ex. "Tomar el desayuno"
"To have breakfast".

But as Ricardo and Dan have mentioned, it all depends on the region and country where you are! :)

Cheers!

KelllaurBailar

September 11, 2015

Wow! One verb with so many meanings! This will be very useful to me in future conversations with Spanish speakers. Thanks for the replies and welcomes! :)

Laura

Dan-H24

September 11, 2015

Ha! if you think tomar has lots of meanings check out quedar!

marieg-rocket languages

September 11, 2015

Or tener! :P

Around 24 meanings in Spanish and over 30 in English hehehe

KelllaurBailar

September 11, 2015

Tener is one of my favorites! It's so fun to use...

ricardo-rich

September 13, 2015

Hola,

Regarding the many meanings of verbs, once again I recommend The Big Red Book of Spanish Verbs, which has been invaluable to me. It has conjugations in all tenses, many examples of usage, and I consult it frequently. Great book!

Saludos,

Ricardo

KelllaurBailar

September 13, 2015

I've never heard of The Big Red Book of Spanish Verbs, but I do have one called "501 Spanish Verbs" that has verbs in all tenses! It sounds really nice though. Do they have the TBRBSV on Amazon by any chance?

ricardo-rich

September 13, 2015

Hola Laura,
I hope addressing you as Laura is okay,. KB? It's quite some time since I purchased it, but I think it was from Amazon. I do recall I got it new for far less than the list price. It also comes with a CD-ROM that has tests and exercises etc.

Saludos,

Ricardo

Dan-H24

September 13, 2015

Laura: to add to Ricardo's message, I bought mine from either Amazon or B&N. One caution on the CD however: it only works in the Windows environment. If like me you use a Mac, you are out of luck.
Dan

KelllaurBailar

September 13, 2015

Laura works fine. Yes, Amazon does have some pretty good prices. It's nice that it comes with extras as well. This is the part where I'm glad I use Windows:)!

Beber or Tomar?

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