The preterite of coger is used to express when you took or caught something at a specific moment in the past. For example, when you want to say “I caught the ball during the game” – “Cogí la pelota durante el partido.”

This verb follows the regular -er conjugation pattern in the preterite tense, using standard -er endings throughout all forms.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Coger (to take/catch) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Castilian Spanish):

The Preterite of coger indicates completed actions of taking or catching.

To take/grab: Used for taking or picking up objects, for example Cogí el último tren (I caught the last train), or Cogieron sus maletas (They took their suitcases).

To catch/capture: Describes capturing or obtaining something, for example Cogí un resfriado (I caught a cold).

Examples

Examples of Coger in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Cogí el último tren de la noche. (I caught the last train of the night.)

¿Cogiste todas tus cosas? (Did you take all your things?)

Ella cogió un taxi al aeropuerto. (She took a taxi to the airport.)

Cogimos el autobús equivocado. (We took the wrong bus.)

Los niños cogieron flores en el campo. (The children picked flowers in the field.)

Cogió el teléfono al primer timbre. (He/she picked up the phone on the first ring.)

¿Por qué cogiste ese camino? (Why did you take that path?)

Cogí un resfriado la semana pasada. (I caught a cold last week.)

Cogimos muchas fotos durante el viaje. (We took many photos during the trip.)

Ellos cogieron el vuelo de la mañana. (They caught the morning flight.)

Cogiste la idea muy rápido. (You caught on to the idea very quickly.)

El estudiante cogió apuntes durante la clase. (The student took notes during class.)

Cogí prestado el libro de la biblioteca. (I borrowed the book from the library.)

Cogimos un atajo para llegar antes. (We took a shortcut to arrive earlier.)

¿Quién cogió mi paraguas? (Who took my umbrella?)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Coger (to take/catch) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Castilian Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Castilian Spanish. For Latin American Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Preterite tense is also known as the Simple Past, Past Simple, Definite Past, Absolute Past, or Past Tense Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Perfecto Simple, Pretérito Indefinido, Pretérito Simple, Pasado Simple, or Pretérito de Indicativo in Spanish.