Clothes—Ropa

Wow, you’ve learned a lot of words to help you talk about the body so far. Now you just need to know how to talk about the clothes covering all those different parts of the body! Here are some words for clothes you probably have in your drawers and closet:

English	Spanish
bathing suit	un traje de baño
coat	un abrigo
jacket	una chaqueta
pajamas	un pijama
pants	unos pantalones
raincoat	un impermeable
shorts	un short
sweater	un suéter
T-shirt	una camiseta

Here are the Spanish words for some common boys’ clothes:

English	Spanish
boxer shorts	unos calzones
shirt	una camisa
sports jacket	una chaqueta sport
suit	un traje
tie	una corbata
undershirt	una camiseta
underwear	unos calzoncillos

And here are the words for some girls’ clothes:

English	Spanish
bikini	un biquini
blouse	una blusa
bra	un sostén
dress	un vestido
nightgown	un camisón
panties	unas bragas
skirt	una falda
tights	unas pantimedias

Of course, most people wear other things besides just clothing. You might also wear jewelry or other accessories. Perhaps you wear a belt or a pair of glasses. Here are the Spanish words for all these things:

English	Spanish
backpack	una mochila
belt	un cinturón
bracelet	un brazalete
earrings	unos aretes
glasses	unas gafas
gloves	unos guantes
hat	un sombrero
mittens	unos mitones
necklace	un collar
purse	una bolsa
ring	un anillo
scarf	una bufanda
sunglasses	unas gafas de sol
watch	un reloj
wallet	una cartera

¿Cómo?—
Say What?

The Spanish word for clothing is la ropa or la prenda. Ropa might make you think of “rope” but be careful! Those two words are called “false friends,” meaning that they look similar but mean different things. There are lots of “false friends” in English and Spanish. You’ll learn more later in the book.

Here are some things you might wear on your feet:

English	Spanish
boots	unas botas
high-heeled shoes	unos zapatos de tacones altos
sandals	unas sandalias
shoes	unos zapatos
slippers	unas zapatillas
sneakers	unos deportivos
socks	unos calcetines

In English, you would use the word “wear” to tell someone what you’re wearing, weather it’s a shirt or a pair of shoes. But this is different in Spanish! The Spanish verb “to wear” is llevar for clothing and calzar for shoes. So, here’s an example:

English	Spanish
I'm wearing shorts and a T-shirt and sandals.	Llevo unos pantalones cortos y una camiseta y calzo unas sandalias.

Now try describing the outfit you have on today. Fill in the blanks to create a complete sentence:

Llevo _______________ y _______________ y calzo _______________.

To describe what someone else is wearing use the word Lleva, which means “He (or She) is wearing.” For example, if your mother is wearing a dress and a necklace, you would say Lleva un vestido y un collar. Keep creating new sentences using all the new words you learned in this chapter. Remember: The more you practice, the easier it will be!