tocar preterite conjugation
Tocar (to touch/play (instrument)) in the preterite: toqué, tocaste, tocó, tocamos, tocasteis, tocaron.
Pretérito indefinido Preterite
| yo | |
|---|---|
| tú | |
| él/ella/usted | |
| nosotros | |
| vosotros | |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes |
ending regular · irr breaks the pattern · tap a form to hear it
When to use the preterite
The preterite (pretérito indefinido) is the past tense for completed actions with a clear start or end: “Ayer hice la cena.” For background, habits and ongoing states in the past, Spanish uses the imperfect instead.
How it is formed
Regular endings: -ar → é, aste, ó, amos, asteis, aron; -er/-ir → í, iste, ió, imos, isteis, ieron. Many common verbs use an irregular stem (hic-, tuv-, estuv-, pud-, quis-, dij-) with unstressed endings -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron.
Tocar is regular here, so it is a good model for other verbs of the same class.
Read more: Preterite vs imperfect: when to use each
Tocar in a sentence
- Toco la guitarra todos los días.I play the guitar every day.
- Alguien tocó a la puerta.Someone knocked on the door.
Spelling change c→qu before e: preterite yo 'toqué'; also 'to knock'.
FAQ
What is the preterite of tocar?
Tocar in the Spanish preterite: yo toqué, tú tocaste, él/ella/usted tocó, nosotros tocamos, vosotros tocasteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes tocaron.
Is tocar irregular in the preterite?
No. In the preterite tocar takes the regular endings for its verb class, so toqué follows the same pattern as any regular verb.
When do you use the Spanish preterite?
The preterite (pretérito indefinido) is the past tense for completed actions with a clear start or end: “Ayer hice la cena.” For background, habits and ongoing states in the past, Spanish uses the imperfect instead.
How is the preterite formed?
Regular endings: -ar → é, aste, ó, amos, asteis, aron; -er/-ir → í, iste, ió, imos, isteis, ieron. Many common verbs use an irregular stem (hic-, tuv-, estuv-, pud-, quis-, dij-) with unstressed endings -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron.
Full tocar conjugation, all tenses →
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