piel blanca
/pjel blanka/from spelling rules
The English phrase "white skin" is translated into Spanish as piel blanca.
piel blanca refers to the natural light color of a person's skin. You can use various similes to describe different qualities of whiteness, such as piel blanca como la nieve for "Snow-white skin", piel blanca como la leche for "Milky-white skin", piel blanca como porcelana for "Porcelain-white skin" or piel blanca como un lirio for "White skin like a lily".
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of the noun piel (skin) and the adjective blanca (white).
Which one should you use?
While piel blanca is a literal translation of "white skin", it is common to use piel clara to describe a person's complexion as "fair".
How does it change in a sentence?
The adjective blanca must agree in gender with the feminine noun piel.
Did you know?
- The Spanish word piel comes from the Latin pellis, which is a distant relative of the English word 'pelt'.
- Spanish uses the word tez specifically to refer to the skin of the face, meaning a person might have piel blanca overall but a tez clara.
- The noun piel is also used in Spanish to refer to the skin of fruits, such as 'la piel de la naranja' for 'the orange peel', not just human skin.
Examples in context
- La modelo tiene piel blanca y cabello rubio.The model has white skin and blonde hair.
- El señor de piel blanca es el embajador de Canadá.The man with white skin is the ambassador of Canada.
- Mi amiga tiene piel clara, me envidia por mi bronceado.My friend has light skin, she envies my tan.
- A Juan le gusta salir por la noche porque su piel clara no tolera el sol intenso.Juan likes going out at night because his light skin can't tolerate intense sun.
- El bebé tiene los ojos azules y es muy blanquito.The baby has blue eyes and is very fair-skinned.
- Ella tiene la piel blanca.She has white skin.
- Mi hermana es de piel blanca.My sister has white skin.
- Ese bebé tiene la piel blanca.That baby has white skin.
Example conversation
Elena and Daniel are discussing sunscreen at the beach.
- ElenaDaniel, debes usar protector solar.Daniel, you should use sunscreen.
- DanielLo sé, tengo la piel blanca.I know, I have white skin.
- ElenaTe vas a quemar muy rápido.You are going to burn very quickly.
- DanielTienes razón, me pondré crema ahora.You are right, I will put on cream now.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries piel, CC BY-SA 4.0.
