Get Dressed in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to get dressed in Spanish! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• name items of clothing

• say what color something is

• talk about what to wear

Vocabulary

Let's take a look at the vocabulary you learn in these lessons!

Clothing and Accessories

Spanish	English
la cartera	wallet
el abrigo	coat
el bolsillo	pocket
la blusa	blouse
el calcetín	sock
la camiseta	T-shirt
la chaqueta	jacket
la falda	skirt
la gorra	(baseball) cap
la ropa	clothing/clothes
la ropa interior	underwear
el suéter	sweater
el zapato	shoe

examples
Tengo mi cartera. I have my wallet.
Tengo tres camisetas. I have three T-shirts.
Me pongo el suéter. I put on the sweater.
Tengo dos faldas. I have two skirts.
¿Dónde están mis calcetines? Where are my socks?
Esta chaqueta tiene bolsillos. This jacket has pockets.

Plurality Tip

The plural of suéter is suéteres, with an accent.

suéteres

sueteres

The plural of calcetín is calcetines, without an accent.

calcetines

calcetínes

Colors

In these lessons, you also learn some great color adjectives.

Spanish	English
amarillo	yellow
azul	blue
blanco	white
negro	black
rojo	red
verde	green

Gender and Plurality Tip

The color adjectives above that end in o must match both the gender and number of the noun they describe.

examples
Se pone el suéter amarillo. He puts on the yellow sweater.
Me pongo los zapatos amarillos. I put on the yellow shoes.
Me pongo el suéter blanco. I put on the white sweater.
Me pongo los calcetines blancos. I put on the white socks.
Me pongo el abrigo negro. I put on the black coat.
Me pongo los zapatos negros. I put on the black shoes.
¿Tienes una camiseta roja? Do you have a red shirt?
¿Tienen abrigos rojos? Do they have red coats?

The color adjectives above that do not end in o must match only the number of the noun they describe.

examples
El abrigo es azul. The coat is blue
La chaqueta es azul. The jacket is blue.
Los suéteres son azules. The sweaters are blue.
El suéter es verde. The sweater is green.
¿Te pones la falda verde? Do you put on the green skirt?
Se pone los calcetines verdes. He puts on green socks.

Verbs

In these lessons, you learn the reflexive verb ponerse, which means to put on or to wear.

Reflexive Verbs and Reflexive Pronouns

Quick Answer

A reflexive pronoun (pronombre reflexivo) is used as part of a reflexive verb (verbo reflexivo) to indicate that someone or something is performing an action on or for itself.

Reflexive Pronouns in Use

Many actions related to personal care or daily routines are reflexive, but other verbs can be reflexive as well. In the sentences below, the subject performs the action on itself, and the subject and object of the verb refer to the same entity. Compare two sentences in which one is reflexive and one is not. In the reflexive sentence, the subject and object refer to the same entity.

	Spanish	English
Reflexive	Yo me pongo la gorra.	I put on the baseball cap.
Not Reflexive	Yo pongo la gorra en la mesa.	I put the baseball cap on the table.

Match your Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns should match the subject of a sentence in number. Let's take a look at the different reflexive pronouns you'll see in Spanish.

Reflexive Pronoun Forms

Person	Singular Pronouns	Plural Pronouns
First Person	me(matches with yo)	nos(matches with nosotros or nosotras)
Second Person	te(matches with tú) OR se(matches with usted)	os(matches with vosotros or vosotras) OR se(matches with ustedes)
Third Person	se(matches with él or ella)	se(matches with ellos or ellas)

Ponerse

Now, let's take a look at the different conjugations for ponerse.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	me pongo	I put on
tú	te pones	you put on	informal singular you
vos	te ponés	you put on	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	se pone	he, she puts on
usted	se pone	you put on	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	nos ponemos	we put on
vosotros, vosotras	os ponéis	you put on	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	se ponen	they put on
ustedes	se ponen	you put on	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Just to make sure you've got these down, the next table shows you the Spanish reflexive pronoun forms, along with example sentences showing how they may be used. Remember, the reflexive pronoun will always be the same number and person as the subject of the sentence.

examples
Yo me pongo el suéter blanco. I put on the white sweater.
Tú te pones el abrigo negro. You put on the black coat.
Él se pone los zapatos amarillos. He puts on the yellow shoes.
Ella se pone los zapatos negros. She puts on the black shoes.
Usted se pone los calcetines blancos. You put on the white socks.
Nosotros nos ponemos ropa negra. We put on the black clothes.
Nosotras nos ponemos los zapatos blancos. We put on the white shoes.
Vosotros os ponéis las gorras rojas. You put on the red caps.
Vosotras os ponéis las faldas verdes. You put on the green skirts.
Ellos se ponen los suéteres amarillos. They put on the yellow sweaters.
Ellas se ponen los calcetines verdes. They put on the green socks.
Ustedes se ponen las faldas azules. You put on the blue skirts.

Useful Questions

Here are some useful questions you learn in these lessons!

Spanish	English
¿De qué color es?	What color is it?
¿De qué color son?	What color are they?
¿Qué me pongo?	What should I put on/wear? or What do I put on/wear?
¿Qué ropa me pongo?	What clothes should I put on/wear? or What clothes do I put on/wear?

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.

Marco:

La fiesta es a las ocho. ¿Qué me pongo?

The party is at eight. What should I wear?

Laura:

¿Tienes un suéter? La fiesta es una fiesta de suéteres.

Do you have a sweater? The party is a sweater party.

Marco:

Sí. Tengo un suéter.

Yes. I have a sweater.

Laura:

¿De qué color es?

What color is it?

Marco:

Es azul.

It's blue.

Laura:

Está muy bien. Tú te pones un suéter azul, y yo me puedo poner un suéter rojo.

That's great. You put on a blue sweater, and I can put on a red sweater.

Marco:

¿Me pongo calcetines azules?

Should I put on blue socks?

Laura:

¡Sí! Y yo me pongo calcetines rojos.

Yes! And I'll put on red socks.

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

• Clothing Vocabulary in Spanish

• Colors in Spanish

• Reflexive Verbs and Pronouns