Teeth brushing in Spanish

Question

So, I understand that the translation of "I brush my teeth" into Spanish would be, "Me cepillo los dientes" because it is reflexive. If it isn't reflexive though, does the structure change? For example, if I wanted to say "I brush your teeth" would it change and become "Cepillo tus dientes" or does it remain the same as "Te cepillo los dientes"? Is "You brush my teeth" "Cepillas mis dientes" or "Me cepillas los dientes"? The translator doesn't seem to sit to well with sentences like these.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Cepillarse los dientes is always reflexive because it is an action done on a person's own body.

If the action is carried out by one person your conjugation would be as follows:

Me cepillo los dientes

Te cepillas los dientes

Se cepilla los dientes

Nos cepillamos los dientes

Os cepilláis los dientes

Se cepillan los dientes

If the action of brushing someone's teeth is carried out by somebody else, your conjugation would be as follows:

Te cepillo los dientes

Le cepillo los dientes (a él o a ella)

Os cepillo los dientes (a vosotros)

Les cepillo los dientes (a ellos o a ellas)

Answer 2

Fracobollo is 100% correct, but I want to add something for you. You wouldn't say "tus dientes" or "mis dientes" or "sus dientes" because it is considered redundant in Spanish. If I'm brushing your teeth and I say "te cepillo tus dientes" it's the equivalent of saying "I brush your teeth that are yours."

It's the same for other similar sentence, too. For example you would never say "Me duele mi cabeza," instead you would say, "Me duele la cabeza." If you want to say that you have hurt someone else's head you should use the verb "lastimar". ¿Te lastimé el brazo?"

I hope this helped!

Good point! - francobollo, May 14, 2013

exacto ... la for mi ... I read that somewhere ... a common mistake of gringos ... como yo - readytodictate, May 14, 2013