Rise and shine! You need to get ready for the day ahead. La higiene personal (or personal hygiene) helps you take care of yourself. In Spanish, ‘to take care of oneself’ is cuidarse (kwee-dar-say).
En el Baño
Most personal hygiene activities happen in the bathroom. The word for ‘bathroom’ in Spanish is el baño (ehl bahn-yo). Let’s look at some of the things you can do en el baño.
- cepillarse los dientes: to brush one’s teeth (sep-ee-yar-say loes dee-in-tays)
- ducharse: to shower (do-char-say)
- lavarse las manos: to wash one’s hands (lah-bar-say lahs mah-nos)
- ponerse desodorante: to put on deodorant (po-ner-say des-o-doe-rahn-tay)
- cortarse las uñas: to cut one’s nails (cor-tar-say lahs oon-yahs)
- peinarse el cabello: to comb one’s hair (pay-nar-say ehl kah-bay-yo)
Here are some examples of how to use these phrases. Please note that all of these verbs are reflexive verbs. Reflexive verbs are used when an activity is done to oneself. Reflexive verbs employ reflexive pronouns, which parallel the subject pronoun used with the verb.
- José se cepilla los dientes. (Jose brushes his teeth.)
- Marta y Pedro se lavan las manos. (Marta and Pedro wash their hands.)
- Te pones desodorante natural. (You put on natural deodorant.)
- Me ducho en la mañana. (I shower in the morning.)
Tools for La Higiene Personal
When you go to el baño to take care of your personal hygiene, there are certain things you’ll need. Here’s a list of a few helpful items for la higiene personal (la ee-he-in-nay per-so-nahl):
- el jabón: the soap (ehl ha-bone)
- la toalla: the towel (lah toe-ah-ya)
- el espejo: the mirror (ehl es-pay-ho)
- el lavabo: the sink (ehl lah-bah-bo)
- el peine: the comb (ehl pay-nay)
- el desodorante: the deodorant (ehl des-o-doe-rahn-tay)
- el cortaúñas: the nail clippers (ehl cor-tah-oon-yahs)
- la pasta de dientes: the toothpaste (lah pahs-tah day dee-in-tays)
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