English Translation
She drinks tea.
Is the following correct? The verbs ‘tomar’ and ‘beber’ are synonyms, but ‘beber’ is more common.
Yeah, both are correct, each with its nuance, of course, and sound natural in spanish (see tomar, definition 6, and beber).
Which one were you not sure about?
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I think Clozemaster introduces ‘tomar’ first.
One of these words apparently usually implies ‘to drink something alcoholic’ specifically, depending on whether you are in Europe or South America.
Seeing ‘beber’ being used with tea (non-alcoholic) surprised me. If ‘beber’ is more common than ‘tomar’, I will prefer ‘beber’ over ‘tomar’ in the future.
Ok, so: personally, I’d say that “beber” referes to the general act of drinking, and will indeed usually be interpreted as drinking alcohol, if the object is not specified. But you can “beber” other things too. (Ex: me gusta más beber café que té por la mañana). I am from the pensinsula, but I feel you are right in saying that the other way around is true in some places; it doesn’t sound completely wrong to use “tomar” to mean drink alcohol. However, to me, “tomar” can also mean other things, so it need to be accompanied by the beverage to really mean to drink. And, of coirse, also for alcohol (esta noche solo me tomo una copa)
Now that I think about it, a close translation could be to have / to drink. You can drink a coup of tea, you can just drink, and you can have a coffe, but you wouldn’t just “have”.
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That’s only because tomar, being a generic verb, is a lot more used than beber.