Dance in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to talk about dancing in Spanish! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• use tú commands

• say the names of parts of the body

• tell someone how to move

Vocabulary

Let's start off with the vocab words in these lessons!

Nouns

Spanish	English
el brazo	arm
la cabeza	head
el codo	elbow
el cuello	neck
la espalda	back
el pecho	chest
el pie	foot
la pierna	leg
la rodilla	knee

examples
Sube los codos. Raise your elbows.
Estira el cuello. Stretch your neck.
Coloca la mano en la rodilla. Place your hand on your knee.

Talking About Body Parts

Spanish nouns are often accompanied by a definite article, and they are often used in instances in which an article would not be used in English. When talking about parts of the body, Spanish often uses a definite article (el, la, los, or las) where English uses a possessive adjective (your, etc.)

examples
Pon la mano aquí. Put your hand here.
Sube el brazo. Lift your arm.

Adverb

Spanish	English
así	like this

examples
Estira el brazo así. Stretch your arm like this.

Preposition

Spanish	English
sobre	over, on

examples
Pon la mano sobre la rodilla. Put your hand on your knee.

Verbs

In this skill, you learn the affirmative tú command form of following verbs!

Tú Command	Infinitive	English
coloca	colocar	place
di	decir	say
estira	estirar	stretch
gira	girar	turn
haz	hacer	do
mueve	mover	move
pon	poner	put
sal	salir	leave
sube	subir	raise
ten cuidado	tener cuidado	be careful
toca	tocar	touch
ve	ir	go
ven	venir	come

To form a tú command for regular verbs, you will simply use the third-person singular form of the present indicative.

Many of the verbs used in this lesson are irregular tú commands. Unfortunately, there’s no easy trick to remember them! The irregulars used in this lesson are:

• di

• haz

• pon

• sal

• ten

• ve

• ven

Phrases

Here are some of the phrases used in these lessons!

Spanish	English
aquí mismo	right here
Di "hola".	Say "hello."
Ten cuidado con la cabeza.	Be careful with your head.

Quiz Yourself!

Want more practice with the vocabulary you learned in these lessons? Click here!

Spanish Conversation

Fantastic! Let's put the grammar and vocab from above to the test in the following example of a conversation in Spanish.

Ramón:

Bienvenida a la clase de baile, Paz. Ven aquí y empezamos.

Welcome to dance class, Paz. Come here and we’ll start.

Paz:

¿Qué hago?

What do I do?

Ramón:

Estira el cuello. Pon la mano aquí. Sube el brazo y di “hola”.

Stretch your neck. Put your hand here. Lift your arm and say “hello.”

Paz:

¿Qué hago ahora?

What do I do now?

Ramón:

Ahora, mueve los pies. Pon la mano en la espalda. Pon el pie en la pierna, y coloca la mano en la rodilla. ¡Ten cuidado con la cabeza!

Now, move your feet. Put your hand on your back. Put your foot on your leg, and put your hand on your knee. Be careful with your head!

Paz:

¡Esto es muy difícil, Ramón! ¿Cuándo termina la clase?

This is very difficult, Ramón! When does class end?

Want to learn more about how to dance in Spanish? Check out the following articles!

• Affirmative Informal "Tú" Commands

• Negative Informal "Tú" Commands

• Hobbies