te huele el aliento
/te wele el aljento/from spelling rules
The English phrase 'your breath stinks' can be translated into Spanish as te huele el aliento.
This phrase is used to tell someone that their breath has an unpleasant smell. This phrase is quite direct and can be perceived as rude or blunt depending on the social context.
What does it mean word for word?
Literally, te huele el aliento translates to 'the breath smells to you', which is a common way to express sensations in Spanish.
Which one should you use?
A more common and slightly less blunt way to express this is tienes mal aliento.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Argentina, Che, tenés un aliento a queso azul terrible. is a way to convey that someone's breath smells like blue cheese.
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb oler (to smell) is used in the third person singular because the subject of the sentence is el aliento (the breath), not tú (you).
Did you know?
- In Spanish, the word aliento does not just refer to the air exhaled from the lungs, but is also the primary word for 'spirit' or 'encouragement' when used in phrases like dar aliento.
- The word el is often mistaken for an Arabic origin because of its similarity to the Arabic definite article al-, but it actually derives from the Latin ille.
- In some Spanish-speaking cultures, offering a mint or gum is a common non-verbal signal used to avoid the bluntness of saying te huele el aliento.
Examples in context
- Te huele el aliento muy mal.Your breath smells very bad.
- Creo que te huele el aliento.I think your breath stinks.
- Perdona, pero te huele el aliento.Excuse me, but your breath smells.
Example conversation
Maria and Alejandro are talking closely.
- MaríaAlejandro, te huele el aliento.Alejandro, your breath stinks.
- Alejandro¡Qué horror! ¿Es por el café?How awful! Is it because of the coffee?
- MaríaNo lo sé, pero usa un caramelo.I don't know, but use a mint.
- AlejandroTienes razón, voy a buscar uno.You're right, I'm going to find one.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries aliento, el, te, CC BY-SA 4.0.
