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Conjugation Chart

“Tocar” (to play (instrument), to touch) in the Imperfect Tense

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Understanding the Imperfect Tense of “Tocar”

The Imperfect Tense of tocar is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, for example, Tocaba la guitarra todas las noches. (I used to play the guitar every night.)

Tocar is a regular -ar verb, so its Imperfect Tense conjugations follow the typical pattern for that verb type.

How to Use Tocar in the Imperfect Tense

The imperfect tense of tocar is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past.

To play (an instrument): For example, Cuando era niño, tocaba la guitarra en la escuela. (When I was a child, I used to play the guitar at school.)

To touch: For example, No tocaba la comida porque estaba muy caliente. (I wasn’t touching the food because it was very hot.)

To knock (on a door): For example, Tocaba la puerta pero nadie respondía. (I was knocking on the door but no one answered.)

To be someone’s turn: For example, Me tocaba hacer la cena esa noche. (It was my turn to make dinner that night.)

To concern or affect (colloquial): For example, Eso no me tocaba a mí. (That didn’t concern me.)

To drive someone crazy (colloquial, rude): For example, Ese ruido me toca las pelotas. (That noise is driving me crazy.)

Real Life Examples of Tocar in the Imperfect Tense

Cuando era niño, tocaba la guitarra todas las tardes. (When I was a child, I used to play the guitar every afternoon.)

Mis abuelos tocaban el piano a dúo los domingos. (My grandparents used to play the piano as a duo on Sundays.)

Ella tocaba la flauta en la orquesta escolar. (She used to play the flute in the school orchestra.)

Tú tocabas el tambor en la banda de rock, ¿verdad? (You used to play the drums in the rock band, right?)

Nosotros tocábamos la guitarra en la plaza los fines de semana. (We used to play the guitar in the town square on weekends.)

Ellos tocaban la marimba en las fiestas populares. (They used to play the marimba at popular festivals.)

Ustedes tocaban las maracas durante los bailes folclóricos. (You all used to play the maracas during folk dances.)

Vosotros tocabais el violín en el grupo de música clásica. (You all used to play the violin in the classical music group.)

Mi hermana tocaba el saxofón en la banda de jazz. (My sister used to play the saxophone in the jazz band.)

En la fiesta, tocábamos las palmas al ritmo de la música. (At the party, we used to clap our hands to the rhythm of the music.)

Los mariachis tocaban las guitarras y trompetas en el restaurante. (The mariachi band used to play guitars and trumpets in the restaurant.)

Ella tocaba las bongós en el grupo de percusión. (She used to play the bongos in the percussion group.)

Tú tocabas la armónica cuando éramos niños, ¿recuerdas? (You used to play the harmonica when we were kids, remember?)

En la universidad, tocábamos el piano en el salón de música. (In college, we used to play the piano in the music room.)

Ellos tocaban las campanas de la iglesia todos los domingos. (They used to ring the church bells every Sunday.)

Conjugation Chart with English Translations

Conjugations of Tocar (to play (instrument), to touch) in the Imperfect Tense (Castilian Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Castilian Spanish. For Latin American Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Imperfect tense is also known as the Past Imperfect, Descriptive Past, Past Progressive, or Imperfect Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Imperfecto, Copretérito, Imperfecto de Indicativo, or Pasado Descriptivo in Spanish.