hacer el dobladillo de los pantalones
/aθeɾ el dobladiʝo de los pantalones/from spelling rules
To hem pants in Spanish is hacer el dobladillo de los pantalones.
The phrase is used to describe the act of folding and sewing the bottom edge of trousers to shorten them or prevent fraying. While the specific phrase refers to pants, the term dobladillo can be used for any type of hem, such as those on skirts or sleeves.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is built from hacer (to make/do) and el dobladillo (the hem).
Which one should you use?
You can also use the more concise verb dobladillar los pantalones to mean 'to hem the pants' instead of the periphrastic hacer el dobladillo de los pantalones.
How do you pronounce it?
/aθeɾ el dobladiʝo de los pantalones/
Did you know?
- In Spanish tailoring, the distance the fabric is folded for the dobladillo is often referred to as the bastilla in certain Latin American countries instead of dobladillo.
- While hacer means 'to do' or 'to make', the form hago may have been shaped by the Latin word agō, which is the ancestor of the English word 'gesture'.
- The Spanish word hacer is a distant relative of the English word 'do'. Both descend from the Proto-Indo-European root *dʰeh₁-, meaning 'to put' or 'to place'.
Examples in context
- Oye, ¿me puedes coser el bajo de los pantalones nuevos? Quedan un poco largos.Hey, can you sew the bottom of my new pants? They're a bit long.
- Necesito hacer el dobladillo de los pantalones.I need to hem the pants.
- Ella sabe hacer el dobladillo de los pantalones muy bien.She knows how to hem pants very well.
- ¿Puedes hacer el dobladillo de los pantalones para mí?Can you hem the pants for me?
Example conversation
Daniel is at a tailor shop talking to Elena.
- DanielHola, Elena, ¿puedes hacer el dobladillo de los pantalones?Hello, Elena, can you hem the pants?
- ElenaSí, Daniel, puedo hacerlo mañana.Yes, Daniel, I can do it tomorrow.
- DanielPerfecto, gracias por ayudarme.Perfect, thanks for helping me.
- ElenaDe nada, no hay problema.You're welcome, no problem.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries de, dobladillo, el, hacer, los, CC BY-SA 4.0.
