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toques

TOH-kehs[ˈto.kes]

“toques” means “touches” in Spanish. It has 2 different meanings depending on context:

touches, knocks

Also: flair, notes
NounmB1
Spain & Latin America
Close-up view of three human fingertips gently making contact with a brightly colored, textured fabric or blanket, illustrating multiple points of contact.

📝 In Action

Necesita unos toques de sal para mejorar el sabor.

B1

It needs a few touches of salt to improve the flavor.

Escuché unos toques en la ventana y me asusté.

A2

I heard some knocks on the window and got scared.

La pintura tiene unos toques impresionistas muy bonitos.

B2

The painting has some very beautiful Impressionistic touches (flair).

Word Connections

Synonyms

Common Collocations

  • dar los últimos toques – to give the finishing touches
  • con toques de humor – with touches of humor

that you touch, that you play (an instrument)

Also: don't touch, that you knock
VerbA2regular stem-changing for spelling ar
A small hand reaching forward with one finger extended to gently press onto a large, smooth, bright yellow flower petal, emphasizing the action of touching.
infinitivetocar
gerundtocando
past Participletocado

📝 In Action

Mi madre insiste en que toques el piano todos los días.

A2

My mother insists that you play the piano every day.

¡No toques las flores! Son muy delicadas.

A1

Don't touch the flowers! They are very delicate.

¿Crees que toques la lotería algún día?

B1

Do you think you might win the lottery one day? (Figurative use of 'tocar')

Word Connections

Synonyms

  • palpar (to feel/to touch gently)
  • sonar (to sound/ring)

Antonyms

Common Collocations

  • que toques un instrumento – that you play an instrument

🔄 Conjugations

indicative

present

él/ella/ustedtoca
yotoco
tútocas
ellos/ellas/ustedestocan
nosotrostocamos
vosotrostocáis

imperfect

él/ella/ustedtocaba
yotocaba
tútocabas
ellos/ellas/ustedestocaban
nosotrostocábamos
vosotrostocabais

preterite

él/ella/ustedtocó
yotoqué
tútocaste
ellos/ellas/ustedestocaron
nosotrostocamos
vosotrostocasteis

subjunctive

present

él/ella/ustedtoque
yotoque
tútoques
ellos/ellas/ustedestoquen
nosotrostoquemos
vosotrostoquéis

imperfect

él/ella/ustedtocara
yotocara
tútocaras
ellos/ellas/ustedestocaran
nosotrostocáramos
vosotrostocarais
View All Tenses & Moods →

Translate to Spanish

Words that translate to "toques" in Spanish:

don't touch→knocks→notes→touches→

✏️ Quick Practice

Quick Quiz: toques

Question 1 of 1

Which sentence uses 'toques' as a noun (meaning 'touches' or 'flair')?

📚 More Resources

👥 Word Family▼
toque(touch/knock (singular)) — Noun
tocar(to touch/to play) — Verb
tocador(dressing table/player (music)) — Noun
🎵 Rhymes▼
enfoquescoloques
📚 Etymology▼

Comes from the verb 'tocar', which evolved from the Vulgar Latin verb *toccare*, meaning 'to strike' or 'to hit'.

First recorded: 12th century

Cognates (Related words)

Portuguese: toquesFrench: toquer

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the verb form spelled with 'qu' instead of 'c'?

The verb 'tocar' needs to keep its hard 'k' sound. In Spanish, a 'c' before an 'e' or 'i' changes the sound to an 's' or 'th' sound. By changing the 'c' to 'qu' before the 'e' in 'toques', the original hard 'k' sound is maintained.

Is 'toques' the same as 'toque de queda'?

No, 'toques' is the plural of the noun 'toque'. 'Toque de queda' (curfew) is a specific, fixed phrase. However, sometimes people shorten it and say 'hay toques' (there are curfews) to refer to the curfew situation.