Conjugate-car verbs in the preterite tense in Spanish (El Pretérito Indefinido)

Some Spanish verbs end in -car. These verbs undergo a consonant change when they are conjugated in the preterite tense.

Learn about -CAR verbs in El Pretérito Indefinido in Spanish

Verbs ending in -car in Spanish,  like acercar (to move something closer), embarcar (to board), equivocar[se] (to make a mistake), tocar (to touch, to play), explicar (to explain), are irregular in El Pretérito Indefinido in Spanish because the spelling changes for pronunciation reasons in the first person singular (yo).

Conjugation of "explicar" in El Pretérito Indefinido in Spanish 

Conjugation of "tocar" in El Pretérito Indefinido in Spanish 

Notice that the -c- is replaced with -qu-. However, apart from the yo form, all the other endings are the same as those of regular -ar verbs: -aste, -ó, -amos, -asteis, -aron.

Have a look at these examples.

 
For more verbs that follow this pattern see the List of Spanish -car verbs that change c > qu in the yo form in the preterite.