Traer means to bring — the movement of something toward the speaker, in contrast to llevar (to take, to carry) which moves something away. It is one of the most frequent verbs in everyday Spanish and one of the most thoroughly irregular: three separate irregularities pile up across the paradigm. The yo form takes a -g- (traigo) like tener, poner, salir; the preterite is built on the -j- stem traj- with the third-person plural ending -eron (trajeron, never trajieron); and the gerund uses -y- between vowels (trayendo, not traiendo) because Spanish refuses to leave an unstressed -i- sitting between two vowels. Master those three patterns and traer clicks into place.
Non-finite forms
| Form | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitivo | traer | to bring |
| Infinitivo compuesto | haber traído | to have brought |
| Gerundio | trayendo | bringing |
| Gerundio compuesto | habiendo traído | having brought |
| Participio | traído | brought |
Two non-finite forms need explanation. The gerund trayendo shows the y-between-vowels rule: the -iendo of regular -er verbs would put an unstressed i between a and e (*traiendo), which Spanish phonotactics blocks; the i turns into a consonantal y. The same rule produces cayendo, leyendo, oyendo, creyendo, yendo. The participle traído takes a written accent on the í because the a-í sequence would otherwise collapse into a single diphthong (*traido would be read as trai-do); the accent forces a hiatus.
Indicative — simple tenses
Presente
| yo | tú | él/ella/usted | nosotros | vosotros | ellos/ellas/ustedes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| traigo | traes | trae | traemos | traéis | traen |
Only the yo form is irregular: traigo, with an inserted -g- and a glide -i-. Every other person is the regular -er paradigm with the predictable accent pattern (traes, trae, traemos) — traéis takes a written accent on é to mark the hiatus, exactly like creéis, leéis. Traigo belongs to the so-called "yo-go" family of verbs (tengo, pongo, salgo, vengo, hago, digo, oigo, caigo), all of which share the same yo-form pattern.
Yo traigo el postre, vosotros encargaos del vino.
I'm bringing dessert — you lot take care of the wine.
¿Traes el cargador? Se me ha olvidado el mío.
Did you bring the charger? I forgot mine.
Pretérito perfecto simple
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| traje | trajiste | trajo | trajimos | trajisteis | trajeron |
This is the irregularity to drill until it is automatic. The preterite stem is traj- — not trae- and not trai-. The third-person plural ending is -eron, never -ieron: the correct form is trajeron, and trajieron simply does not exist in Spanish. The same rule applies to every j-*stem preterite: *dijeron, condujeron, tradujeron, produjeron. None of these forms carries a written accent — the stress on traje, trajo falls on the penultimate syllable, which is the default for word-final vowel forms and so needs no mark.
Le traje un regalo de Lisboa, una lata de sardinas premium.
I brought him a present from Lisbon, a tin of premium sardines.
Mis primos trajeron los churros para el desayuno del domingo.
My cousins brought the churros for Sunday breakfast.
Pretérito imperfecto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| traía | traías | traía | traíamos | traíais | traían |
The imperfect is regular -er with the standard -ía- endings — but every form takes a written accent on the í, again because of the hiatus rule: a and í are separate syllables (tra-í-a), and the accent forces that reading.
De pequeña, mi abuela siempre me traía caramelos cuando venía a verme.
When I was little, my grandmother always used to bring me sweets when she came to see me.
Futuro simple
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| traeré | traerás | traerá | traeremos | traeréis | traerán |
The future is regular — built directly on the infinitive traer-, with the standard endings. Unlike poner, tener, salir, valer, traer does not drop a vowel or insert a -d-.
Te traeré algo rico de la pastelería al volver del trabajo.
I'll bring you something nice from the bakery when I come back from work.
Condicional
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| traería | traerías | traería | traeríamos | traeríais | traerían |
Yo te traería un café, pero la máquina está estropeada.
I'd bring you a coffee, but the machine is broken.
Indicative — compound tenses
All compound tenses pair haber with the participle traído — remember the accent on the í.
Pretérito perfecto compuesto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| he traído | has traído | ha traído | hemos traído | habéis traído | han traído |
¿Habéis traído las entradas? No quiero hacer cola en la taquilla.
Have you brought the tickets? I don't want to queue at the box office.
Pretérito pluscuamperfecto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| había traído | habías traído | había traído | habíamos traído | habíais traído | habían traído |
Cuando llegamos, mi madre ya había traído todos los platos a la mesa.
By the time we arrived, my mother had already brought all the plates to the table.
Futuro compuesto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| habré traído | habrás traído | habrá traído | habremos traído | habréis traído | habrán traído |
Para cuando vuelvas del cine, ya habremos traído la cena.
By the time you get back from the cinema, we'll have brought dinner.
Condicional compuesto
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| habría traído | habrías traído | habría traído | habríamos traído | habríais traído | habrían traído |
Si me hubieras dicho que venías, te habría traído un libro.
If you'd told me you were coming, I'd have brought you a book.
Subjunctive — simple tenses
Presente de subjuntivo
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| traiga | traigas | traiga | traigamos | traigáis | traigan |
The traig- stem of the yo form spreads across the whole present subjunctive. This follows the general rule for verbs with an irregular yo: whatever stem appears in yo, that is the present-subjunctive stem.
Os pido que traigáis algo de comer, vamos a estar todo el día fuera.
I'm asking you to bring something to eat — we're going to be out all day.
No hace falta que traigas nada, ya está todo organizado.
You don't need to bring anything — it's all sorted.
Imperfecto de subjuntivo (-ra / -se)
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -ra | trajera | trajeras | trajera | trajéramos | trajerais | trajeran |
| -se | trajese | trajeses | trajese | trajésemos | trajeseis | trajesen |
Built from the third-person plural preterite trajeron by stripping -ron and adding -ra or -se — so the -j- stem reappears here, and again with no -i- slipping in. Both endings are interchangeable; -ra dominates spoken peninsular Spanish, -se feels more formal and literary.
Le pedí que trajera el coche al taller temprano, antes de que abrieran los demás.
I asked him to bring the car to the garage early, before the other people opened up.
Subjunctive — compound tenses
Pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| haya traído | hayas traído | haya traído | hayamos traído | hayáis traído | hayan traído |
Espero que hayan traído suficientes sillas, somos quince.
I hope they've brought enough chairs — there are fifteen of us.
Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo
| yo | tú | él | nosotros | vosotros | ellos | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -ra | hubiera traído | hubieras traído | hubiera traído | hubiéramos traído | hubierais traído | hubieran traído |
| -se | hubiese traído | hubieses traído | hubiese traído | hubiésemos traído | hubieseis traído | hubiesen traído |
Si hubieras traído el paraguas, no estaríamos calados hasta los huesos.
If you'd brought the umbrella, we wouldn't be soaked to the bone.
Imperative
| Form | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| tú | trae | no traigas |
| usted | traiga | no traiga |
| nosotros | traigamos | no traigamos |
| vosotros | traed | no traigáis |
| ustedes | traigan | no traigan |
The affirmative tú is trae (the regular shortening, no irregularity here) and the vosotros is traed. The negative forms borrow from the subjunctive and carry the traig- stem throughout. Note that trae on its own carries no written accent — the stress already falls on the first syllable by default. But once an object pronoun is attached (tráeme, tráelo, tráenoslo), the word grows long enough that the stress on the a becomes antepenultimate or earlier, so the written accent appears to preserve it.
Tráeme un vaso de agua, por favor, no me puedo levantar.
Bring me a glass of water, please — I can't get up.
No traigáis nada de comer, hay de sobra para todos.
Don't bring anything to eat — there's plenty for everyone.
Traer vs llevar — the speaker's location
This is the conceptual distinction English speakers most often miss. In Spanish, traer and llevar are not free variants — they are anchored to where the speaker is or imagines herself to be.
- Traer = movement toward the speaker (or toward where the speaker is at the time of the action).
- Llevar = movement away from the speaker (or toward a third location).
If you are on the phone and your friend is at home, ¿me traes el libro? means bring it to me (where I am), while ¿le llevas el libro a Marta? means take it to Marta (away from where you are).
¿Me traes el periódico? Estoy en el salón.
Can you bring me the newspaper? I'm in the living room.
Llévale este sobre a tu padre, está en la oficina.
Take this envelope to your father, he's at the office.
This anchoring is why traer shows up in restaurant Spanish (you ask the waiter to bring something to your table, where you are) and llevar shows up when you take something to go (para llevar — takeaway).
¿Me trae la cuenta, por favor?
Could you bring me the bill, please?
Una caña y una de calamares para llevar.
A beer and one order of calamari to take away.
Idiomatic uses of traer
Traer extends well beyond literal carrying. The verb also covers:
To be wearing / carrying on one's person
A very common peninsular use, often where English would say have or wear.
Trae unas pintas hoy que no se aguantan.
He looks a state today — you can't take him seriously.
¿Tú traes suelto? Necesito una moneda para el carrito.
Have you got any change on you? I need a coin for the trolley.
To cause, to bring about
Traer can take an abstract object — consequences, problems, news.
Esa decisión va a traer cola, ya verás.
That decision is going to have repercussions, you'll see.
El periódico de hoy trae una noticia muy interesante sobre el barrio.
Today's paper has a very interesting article about the neighborhood.
traer entre manos
To be up to something, to have something on the go.
No sé qué se trae entre manos, pero está demasiado callado.
I don't know what he's up to, but he's far too quiet.
High-frequency collocations from peninsular Spain
| Phrase | Translation |
|---|---|
| traer cola | (informal) to have consequences, to come back to bite |
| traer de cabeza a alguien | (informal) to drive someone crazy, give them a headache |
| traerse algo entre manos | (informal) to be up to something |
| traer suerte | to bring luck |
| traer mala suerte | to bring bad luck |
| ¿qué te trae por aquí? | what brings you here? |
| traer y llevar | (informal) to gossip, to pass tales around |
| traer al mundo | to bring (a child) into the world |
¿Qué te trae por Madrid? Hacía siglos que no te veía.
What brings you to Madrid? I haven't seen you in ages.
Ese niño me trae de cabeza, no para quieto un segundo.
That kid is driving me up the wall, he won't sit still for a second.
Common Mistakes
❌ Yo trao las bebidas.
The yo form is traigo — the yo-go pattern. Trao does not exist.
✅ Yo traigo las bebidas.
I'm bringing the drinks.
❌ Ayer trajieron mucha comida.
The third-person plural preterite is trajeron — no -i- in -eron. The form trajieron does not exist.
✅ Ayer trajeron mucha comida.
Yesterday they brought a lot of food.
❌ Está traiendo los platos.
The gerund is trayendo, with -y- between vowels. Spanish blocks unstressed -i- between two vowels.
✅ Está trayendo los platos.
He's bringing the plates.
❌ Hemos traido el postre.
The participle takes a written accent: traído, with hiatus a-í.
✅ Hemos traído el postre.
We've brought dessert.
❌ ¿Me llevas un café, por favor?
If the speaker is here and asking for something to come to them, the verb is traer, not llevar.
✅ ¿Me traes un café, por favor?
Could you bring me a coffee, please?
❌ Quiero que traes tú las sillas.
Querer que triggers the subjunctive: traigas, not traes.
✅ Quiero que traigas tú las sillas.
I want you to bring the chairs.
Key Takeaways
- Traer has three independent irregularities: yo-go (traigo), j-stem preterite (traje, trajeron), and y-between-vowels gerund (trayendo). The participle traído takes an accent to preserve the hiatus.
- The third-person plural preterite is trajeron — never trajieron. Same rule as every other j-*stem preterite (*dijeron, condujeron, tradujeron).
- Traer moves things toward the speaker; llevar moves things away. The anchor is the speaker's location.
- Peninsular Spanish uses traer idiomatically for to be wearing / carrying on you (¿traes suelto?), for to bring about (traer cola), and in greeting questions (¿qué te trae por aquí?).
- The future and conditional are perfectly regular — traer does not drop a vowel the way poner, tener, salir, valer do.
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