Ways to say it
| Spanish | IPA |
|---|---|
| hacer cosquillas | /aθeɾ koskiʝas/ (Spain, from spelling rules) /aseɾ koskiʝas/ (Latin America, from spelling rules) |
| cosquillear | /koskiʝeˈaɾ/ |
The primary way to express the action of tickling someone is with hacer cosquillas. If you are describing a physical sensation of tingling or a light, repetitive touch on the skin, you may use cosquilleo for the sensation or cosquillear for the action.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase hacer cosquillas is a periphrastic construction where hacer (to do or make) is used with the plural noun cosquillas (tickles) to function as a verb.
Which one should you use?
Hacer cosquillas is the most common way to express the action of tickling a person. In contrast, cosquillear often refers more specifically to the sensation of tingling or a light, repetitive touch.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
When using hacer cosquillas with an indirect object, such as a person being tickled, the person is indicated by an indirect object pronoun, for example, hacerle cosquillas a ella.
How do you pronounce it?
/aθeɾ koskiʝas/
Did you know?
- The word cosquillear contains an influence from the Ancient Greek suffix -ῐ́ζω via Latin, which denotes a repetitive or frequent action.
- The word cosquilleo describes a tingling sensation that can be emotional or nervous, not just a result of physical touch.
- The word cosquillas is a close linguistic relative to the Portuguese word cosquinha, showing how similar the languages are in describing this specific sensation.
Examples in context
- ¿Por qué no podemos hacer cosquillas el uno al otro?Why can't we tickle each other?This sentence is useful for practicing the phrase hacer cosquillas in a question.Tatoeba #3369792 by carlosalberto, translation #1017935 by DanaDescalza
- A los niños les encanta que les hagas cosquillas en los pies.Children love it when you tickle their feet.
- A mi hermano le gusta hacerme cosquillas cuando menos me lo espero.My brother likes to tickle me when I least expect it.
- Voy a hacer cosquillas al bebé.I am going to tickle the baby.
Example conversation
Two siblings are playing in the living room.
- Lucía¡Mateo, no me hagas cosquillas!Mateo, don't tickle me!
- MateoPero si te hace gracia.But you find it funny.
- Lucía¡Es que me desesperas!It's just that you exasperate me!
- MateoEstá bien, dejaré de hacer cosquillas.Okay, I will stop tickling you.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “tickle” translations and entries hacer cosquillas, cosquillear, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries cosquillas, cosquillear, hacer, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
