Taking the floor in Spanish

This expression describes beginning to speak in a discussion.

The idea

Use tomar la palabra when someone starts speaking to a group; the verb changes with the speaker and time.

La vecina tomó la palabra en la reunión.The neighbour took the floor at the meeting.
Tomé la palabra después del descanso.I took the floor after the break.
El alcalde tomó la palabra ante el público.The mayor took the floor before the audience.
¿Quién quiere tomar la palabra primero?Who wants to speak first?
La portavoz tomó la palabra para responder.The spokesperson took the floor to respond.
Durante el debate, varias personas tomaron la palabra.During the debate, several people took the floor.

Read-aloud uses a synthetic Spanish voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.

Avoid coger la palabra for taking a turn in a discussion; use tomar la palabra.

Complete the sentence: En el foro, ella ___ la palabra ayer. (tomó / tomará)
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tomó
tomó places the action yesterday.
Complete the sentence: ¿Quién quiere tomar ___ palabra? (la / el)
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la
la is the article in the expression.
Complete the sentence: El representante tomó la palabra ___ explicar la propuesta. (para / desde)
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para
para introduces the purpose of speaking.

Describe when you would take the floor in a meeting.