cepíllate los dientes
/θepiʝate los djentes/from spelling rules
The phrase "brush your teeth" in Spanish is translated as cepíllate los dientes.
This phrase is used to instruct someone to clean their teeth using a toothbrush and toothpaste.
Which one should you use?
The phrase cepíllate los dientes is the informal command used with friends, family or children. If you need to speak formally, you should use cepíllese los dientes.
How does it change in a sentence?
When referring to body parts in Spanish, you use the definite article los (the) instead of the possessive adjective for "your". For example, while you are instructing someone to brush their own teeth, you say los dientes rather than tus dientes.
How do you pronounce it?
/θepiʝate los djentes/
What mistakes should you avoid?
Avoid saying cepíllate tus dientes. While it is tempting to translate "your" literally, native speakers use los dientes to indicate the teeth belong to the person being addressed.
Did you know?
- In many Spanish-speaking cultures, the concept of 'cleaning' teeth is often expressed as lavarse los dientes, which literally means 'to wash one's teeth'.
- The word 'dientes' comes from the Latin 'dens', which is the direct ancestor of the English word 'dentist'. This shared linguistic root makes the connection between the teeth and the professional more obvious than it appears.
- Because Spanish uses los instead of 'your', a speaker could technically say cepíllate los dientes to someone else to tell them to brush the other person's teeth.
Examples in context
- Cepíllate los dientes bien.Brush your teeth well.This sentence is useful for telling someone to brush their teeth well.Tatoeba #549295 by Shishir, translation #500708 by CK
- Cepíllate los dientes después de cada comida.Brush your teeth after each meal.This sentence is useful for advising someone to brush their teeth after every meal.Tatoeba #1334227 by Shishir, translation #322368 by CK
- Cepíllate los dientes.Brush your teeth.This sentence is a simple way to tell someone to brush their teeth.Tatoeba #1286275 by marcelostockle, translation #263638 by CK
- Por favor, cepille sus dientes al menos dos veces al día.Please brush your teeth at least twice a day.
- 2 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Daniel is reminding his daughter Sofía to get ready for bed.
- DanielSofía, es hora de dormir.Sofía, it is time to sleep.
- SofíaEstá bien, papá.Okay, dad.
- DanielNo olvides, cepíllate los dientes.Don't forget, brush your teeth.
- SofíaLo haré ahora mismo.I will do it right now.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries los, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
