"Ela tenta tocar na arma."

Translation: She tries to touch the gun.

[Pros]

Why not "tocar a arma"? Is "touch (something)" translated as "tocar em (alguma coisa)"?

[Paulenrique]

Most of time! Dont touch me = não toque em mim, but "dont touch here" = não toque aqui

[KTKee-EnglishEng]

This is where little explanation notes would be useful, especially when you get it wrong. A learner wouldn't know tocar is usually followed by em.

[Nery469853]

Maybe getting some wrong is part of the learning process

[IAmCrazyHope]

Getting some wrong is definitely part of the learning process. I prefer at least knowing the rules first, as I will get some wrong anyway. I dont like getting things wrong and not knowing or understanding why.

[geneoconnor]

tocar = play a musical instrument
tocar em = touch something with your hand, finger etc

Let me explain with an example. In the reverse tree, there used to be this sentence: "Don't touch the plate." Translation: "Não toque o prato." There was a small uproar in the discussions because "tocar o prato" conjured up the image to native speakers of Portuguese of someone trying to "play" a plate as if it were a musical instrument.

That's the best explanation I was able to figure out.

[Luckyh13]

Would've been funnier with a spoon...

[solstabile]

"Tocar a" is formal and "tocar na" is informal when we use the word "tocar" as the word "touch".

[Jackherbach12]

Thanks for clearing this up, friend :) I never learned that till now!

[Werner912974]

I put weapon instead of gun. What's wrong with that?

[yimantuwingyai]

So is "na" used here because it's like saying "she touches her finger on the gun"?

When do you use "na" with tocar? When there is an object directly named?

[Pros]

Well, like @Paulenrique explained above, "tocar" is usually followed by "em", so it's basically "tocar em a arma", where "em" and "a" are contracted to "na".

[pacoserrano]

Why 'she tries to touch the arm' is wrong?

[thurbzz]

Arma is gun or weapon (a noun) not a body part. The hints may have confused you because the verb form translates to 'arms' in English - as in: she arms herself with a pistol.

[Fizban]

It didn't accept "she tries to touch the weapon"

Reported

[HarryHalle2]

Weapon is now accepted.

[gregorybickham]

It said that tocar=ring. So, could I say, "she tries to ring in the gun."

[solstabile]

Sorry Gregor, but "ring" isn,t the same. Ring reffers to the sound of the phone, cell phone, bell, door bell etc.

[solstabile]

I can "tocar" a musical instrument too, but in this case, "tocar" means "play". For example" She plays the violin = ela toca violino.

[Saulo_Prado]

The "ing" suffix in the verb touch is not acceptable? E. g. "She tries touching on the gun"?

[MZimbric]

You can use the -ing form, but not the preposition "on".

"She tries touching the gun" works, but sounds a bit odd.