Tocar means to touch.

One would say tocar la puerta to indicate knock on the door.

Also when you play an instrument you tocar el instrumento.

Today when my son and I were playing in the rain he told me that he has heard several parents telling their kids “vas a encoger” when they are in the rain. He laughed and said that was just silly. I would have laughed too, but I did not know what it meant. He had to explain to me that encoger is to shrink. It can also mean to tuck away.

Carpeta is not what you put on your floor to cover up the 1970’s linoleum. A carpeta is a folder, as in something to hold paper. Typically it is a folder with pockets in it. Not a file folder. A file folder is an archivador.

The stuff you put on your floor is an alfombra.

I saw camarero the other day and knew by it’s usage that it meant a waiter. But, I don’t think I have ever heard it used. We use the word mesero for waiter here in our part of Mexico.

Morar is not a commonly used word but it is found often in the Spanish Bible. Morar is to live or reside in a place.

Vencer has two main meanings that don’t seem at all connected. One is to defeat or conquer and the other is to expire.

When vencer is used to mean defeat or overcome it is used in a straight forward manner. “Bill overcame the temptation” would become “Bill venció la tentación.” It is a transitive verb meaning it must have a direct object, i.e. “the temptation.”

When used to mean expire or become due the verb is in its intransitive form (it does not have a direct object). “They let the milk expire” becomes “Ellos dejaron vencer la leche.”

I don’t pretend to understand transitive and intransitive verbs, but there are a lot of verb meanings that make a whole world of difference depending on how they are used.

UPDATE: I found this article over at Daily Writing Tips that explains transitive and intransitive verbs a bit better.

As opposed to diving into a swimming pool, clavar, bucear is scuba diving. It is not just scuba diving, but any swimming under water. When you dive while snorkeling it is also called bucear.

The sport is called buceo.