tocar Preterite Conjugation
tocar — to touch
The preterite of tocar has a spelling change in the 'yo' form (toqué) to keep the hard 'c' sound.
tocar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite when you touched something at a specific moment or when you played a song from start to finish. It's also used for 'it was my turn' (me tocó).
Notes on tocar in the Preterite
Tocar is a 'c to qu' verb. In the 'yo' form, the 'c' changes to 'qu' before the 'é' to maintain the /k/ sound. All other forms are regular.
Example Sentences
Toqué el piano en la fiesta de ayer.
I played the piano at the party yesterday.
yo
¿Tocaste la guitarra en el concierto?
Did you play the guitar in the concert?
tú
Me tocó limpiar la cocina.
It was my turn to clean the kitchen.
él/ella/usted
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Writing 'tocé' for the yo form.
Correct: toqué
Why: In Spanish, 'ce' sounds like 's' or 'th'. You must use 'qu' to keep the hard 'k' sound of the infinitive.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: toco
Tocar is completely regular in the present tense: toco, tocas, toca, tocamos, tocáis, tocan.
Imperfect
yo: tocaba
The imperfect of tocar is regular: tocaba, tocabas, tocaba, tocábamos, tocabais, tocaban.
Future
yo: tocaré
The future tense of tocar is regular, adding endings to the infinitive: tocaré, tocarás, tocará...
Conditional
yo: tocaría
The conditional of tocar is regular: tocaría, tocarías, tocaría, tocaríamos, tocaríais, tocarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: toque
The present subjunctive of tocar changes 'c' to 'qu' in all forms: toque, toques, toque, toquemos, toquéis, toquen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: tocara
The imperfect subjunctive of tocar is built from the 'ellos' preterite: tocara, tocaras, tocara...
Affirmative Imperative
yo: toca
The imperative of tocar gives commands: toca (tú), toque (usted), tocad (vosotros).
Negative Imperative
yo: no toques
Negative commands for tocar always use the 'qu' spelling: no toques, no toque, no toquen.