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SpanishConjugationPreterite

Traer (to bring) · Preterite

By TutorLily Editorial Team · Last updated

Traer in the Spanish preterite (pretérito indefinido) is: yo traje, tú trajiste, él/ella/usted trajo, nosotros/as trajimos, vosotros/as trajisteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes trajeron. The preterite of traer uses the j-stem 'traj-' across all persons. Crucially, the 3rd-person plural drops the 'i': 'trajeron', not 'trajieron'. This j-stem dropped-i pattern is shared with decir (dijeron) and traducir (tradujeron).

traer conjugation in the Preterite (Pretérito indefinido)
To BringTraer
I brought
yo traje
you brought
tú trajiste
he/she brought
él/ella/usted trajo
we brought
nosotros/as trajimos
you brought
vosotros/as trajisteis
they brought
ellos/ellas/ustedes trajeron
Examples

Traer (to bring) in context

Sentences that use traer in the preterite. Tap each to hear it.

Traje flores para la mesa.

I brought flowers for the table.

¿Trajiste el regalo que pedí?

Did you bring the gift I asked for?

Mi hermano trajo a su novia a cenar.

My brother brought his girlfriend to dinner.

Trajimos muchos recuerdos de Italia.

We brought back many memories from Italy.

Trajisteis una sorpresa fantástica.

You brought a fantastic surprise.

Los embajadores trajeron regalos del extranjero.

The ambassadors brought gifts from abroad.

Tip

Working with the preterite

The preterite describes a finished past action with a clear boundary — "ayer comí pizza" (yesterday I ate pizza). The key contrast is with the imperfect, which describes ongoing or repeated past actions without a defined endpoint. If you can substitute "used to" or "was doing" in English, you usually want the imperfect; if the action is one-and-done, you want the preterite. The irregular preterites (fui, hice, dije, tuve, vine, supe) are the highest-frequency in Spanish — front-load them.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

How do you conjugate traer in the preterite?
The preterite of traer is: yo traje, tú trajiste, él/ella/usted trajo, nosotros/as trajimos, vosotros/as trajisteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes trajeron. The stem switches to 'traj-' across all persons. The 3rd-person plural is 'trajeron' (not 'trajieron') — the 'i' is dropped after the j.
Why is the 3rd-person plural 'trajeron' and not 'trajieron'?
Verbs with a j-stem preterite drop the 'i' from the 3rd-person plural ending: traer → trajeron, decir → dijeron, traducir → tradujeron, conducir → condujeron, producir → produjeron. The 'i' is absorbed by the preceding 'j' phonetically. Writing 'trajieron' is a common learner error and gets flagged immediately on proficiency exams.
Should I use 'traje' (preterite) or 'traía' (imperfect)?
Use 'traje' for a specific completed bringing: 'Ayer traje el postre' (Yesterday I brought the dessert). Use 'traía' for habitual or ongoing past bringing: 'Cada semana, traía flores a mi madre' (Every week, I used to bring flowers to my mother), or 'Traía un libro cuando me viste' (I was carrying a book when you saw me). Preterite = one-time event; imperfect = habitual or descriptive.
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More tenses of Traer (To Bring)

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Traer (to bring) · Present
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Traer (to bring) · Imperfect

More verbs in preterite

All tenses
Traer (to bring)
preterite
Ser (to be)
preterite
Estar (to be)
preterite
Tener (to have)
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