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Conjugation Chart of “Tocar” (to play/touch) in the Preterite (Past) Tense

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Understanding the Preterite (Past) Tense of “Tocar”

The preterite of tocar is used to express when someone played an instrument or touched something at a specific moment in the past. For example, when you want to say “I played the piano at the concert” – “Toqué el piano en el concierto.”

This verb follows the -car spelling-changing pattern in the preterite tense. The ‘c’ changes to ‘qu’ before ‘e’ to maintain the same sound, which occurs in the yo form (toqué).

How to Use Tocar in the Preterite (Past) Tense

The Preterite of tocar expresses completed acts of touching or playing.

To touch/feel: Describes instances of physical contact, for example Toqué la superficie caliente (I touched the hot surface), or Tocó mi hombro (She touched my shoulder).

To play music: Refers to playing an instrument, for example Tocó el piano en el concierto (He played the piano at the concert).

Real Life Examples of Tocar in the Preterite (Past) Tense

El pianista tocó una hermosa melodía. (The pianist played a beautiful melody.)

Toqué la puerta tres veces pero nadie respondió. (I knocked on the door three times but nobody answered.)

¿Quién tocó mis cosas? (Who touched my things?)

Tocamos varios instrumentos en el concierto. (We played several instruments at the concert.)

La banda tocó hasta el amanecer. (The band played until dawn.)

¿Tocaste el tema en la reunión? (Did you bring up the topic in the meeting?)

Me tocó el hombro para llamar mi atención. (He/she tapped my shoulder to get my attention.)

Los músicos tocaron una nueva canción. (The musicians played a new song.)

Toqué fondo en ese momento difícil. (I hit rock bottom in that difficult moment.)

Nos tocó un día lluvioso para la excursión. (We got a rainy day for the excursion.)

Tocaste el piano maravillosamente. (You played the piano wonderfully.)

Le tocó el premio mayor en la lotería. (He/she won the grand prize in the lottery.)

Tocaron todos los temas importantes. (They covered all the important topics.)

Toqué el timbre pero nadie abrió. (I rang the doorbell but nobody opened.)

La orquesta tocó la sinfonía completa. (The orchestra played the complete symphony.)

Conjugation Chart with English Translations

Conjugations of Tocar (to play/touch) in the Preterite (Past) Tense (Castilian Spanish) with English Translations:

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

Synonyms

The Preterite tense is also known as the Simple Past, Past Simple, Definite Past, Absolute Past, or Past Tense Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Perfecto Simple, Pretérito Indefinido, Pretérito Simple, Pasado Simple, or Pretérito de Indicativo in Spanish.