Trajo

Trajo is the third-person singular form of the Spanish verb traer in the preterite tense, used to describe a completed action in the past. It corresponds to “he brought” or “she brought” in English and is commonly found in narrative or report-style sentences.

Etymology and form: Traer comes from the Latin root trahere, meaning to pull or draw. In Spanish, traer underwent irregular changes in the preterite, resulting in the forms traje, trajiste, trajo, trajimos, trajisteis, trajeron. The form trajo has no accent mark.

Conjugation and usage: The full preterite conjugation of traer is: yo traje, tú trajiste, él/ella/usted trajo, nosotros trajimos, vosotros trajisteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes trajeron. Trayo is not used; the correct form in the third-person singular is trajo. Traer is used with a direct object to indicate what was brought and to whom or to where it was brought, as in “Él trajo el libro” (He brought the book) or “Ella trajo regalos para la fiesta” (She brought gifts for the party). The preterite tense, including trajo, signals a specific past event, as opposed to the imperfect form traía, which conveys habitual or ongoing past action.

Nuances and related forms: Traer often contrasts with llevar, where traer emphasizes bringing something toward the speaker’s current location or a specified point, while llevar emphasizes transporting away from it. The phrase traer consigo is common and means “to bring with it.” Trama contexts appear in literature and media when recounting past events.

See also: Traer; Preterite; Irregular verbs in Spanish; Traer vs. llevar.