Using 'Tocar'

The core meaning of the verb tocar is "to touch." In fact, both words come from the same Latin verb, toccare.

Probably the most common meaning of both tocar and "touch" is to refer to physical contact between things or persons. Some examples of the word used this way in Spanish:

• Tocó los dedos de su esposa, flojos y calientes. (He touched his wife's weak and warm fingers.)
• Cuando el avión tocó tierra los pasajeros aplaudieron. (When the plane touched ground, the passengers applauded.)
• No tocaron el estéreo. (They didn't touch the stereo.)

As with the English "touch," tocar can be used as a euphemism to refer to sexual contact:

• Él me decía que lo nuestro era platónico, y no me tocaba. (He would tell me that our relationship was platonic, and he didn't touch me.)
• Desde niña me tocaba, y el repulsivo me ofrecía dinero para que me acostara con él. (Since I was a girl he touched me, and the creep would offer me money to sleep with him.)

The other meaning of tocar that is extremely common in Spanish is "to play" a musical instrument or similar item.

• La guitarra es uno de los instrumentos más fáciles de aprender a tocar. (The guitar is one of the easiest instruments to learn to play.)
• Voy a darme un baño y luego tocaré el piano. (I'm going to take a bath and later I'll play the piano.)
• A la muerte de Susana, se tocaron las campanas de todas las iglesias. (When Susana died, they rang the bells of all the churches.)

When referring to someone's speaking or writing, tocar can mean "to touch on."

• El presidente no tocó el tema de Irak. (The president didn't touch on the subject of Iraq.)
• Los Monty Python tocaron todos los géneros del humor. (Monty Python touches on all types of humor.)

When tocar is used with an indirect object, it can refer to the turn or responsibility of the person who is the indirect object. The exact translation depends on the context:

• ¿A quién le toca? (Whose turn is it? Whose job is it?)
• El miércoles de esa semana me toca trabajar. (On Wednesday of that week it's my responsibility to work.)
• Nos toca pagar. (It's our turn to pay. It's up to us to pay.)

Tocar can be used as the subject of a noun representing something that is given to someone:

• Le tocó la lotería. (He won the lottery.)
• Le ha tocado un tiempo muy difícil. (He had been given a very rough time.)

Tocar also is used in some set phrases or idioms:

• Por lo que a mí me toca (as far as I'm concerned)
• ¡Toca madera! (Touch wood!)
• Tocar de cerca (to have a close relationship with someone, or to be very familiar with a subject)
• Tocarle a alguien bailar con la más fea (to be expected to do something very difficult or disagreeable)

Keep in mind that tocar is conjugated irregularly in spelling but not pronunciation. The c is changed to qu when followed by the e sound. For example, the first-person preterite form is toqué, and the present subjuntive forms follow the pattern of toque, toques, toquemos, etc.