Palabra Lexi · words by topic · Spanish
Spanish Words: Clothes — with Pronunciation and Memory Hooks
Level A0 · first words · 20 words
Shirt, pants, dress, jacket, shoes, scarf: words for clothing stores, fitting rooms and packing for a trip.
Spanish is read almost exactly as it's written: stress falls on the second-to-last syllable when a word ends in a vowel, n or s, otherwise on the last one, and exceptions carry an accent mark (café, estación). Nouns are masculine (el) or feminine (la). Pronunciation below is spelled out in English, stressed syllable in capitals.
Clothes in Spanish: word list
| Spanish | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ropa | ROH-pah | clothes |
| camisa | kah-MEE-sah | shirt |
| camiseta | kah-mee-SEH-tah | T-shirt |
| pantalón | pahn-tah-LOHN | trousers |
| falda | FAHL-dah | skirt |
| vestido | behs-TEE-doh | dress |
| zapato | sah-PAH-toh | shoe |
| calcetín | kahl-seh-TEEN | sock |
| abrigo | ah-BREE-goh | coat |
| chaqueta | chah-KEH-tah | jacket |
| sombrero | sohm-BREH-roh | hat |
| gafas | GAH-fahs | glasses |
| bufanda | boo-FAHN-dah | scarf |
| guante | GWAHN-teh | glove |
| cinturón | seen-too-ROHN | belt |
| botón | boh-TOHN | button |
| bolsillo | bohl-SEE-yoh | |
| llevar | yeh-BAHR | to wear |
| quitarse | kee-TAHR-seh | to take off |
| ponerse | poh-NEHR-seh | to put on |
Memory hooks for these words
A sound-alike is an English word or phrase that sounds like the foreign one. The scene ties it to the meaning: you recall the sound, the sound brings back the picture, the picture brings back the meaning. Read each scene once, then try to recall the meaning a minute later without looking at the list.
ropa [ROH-pah] — clothes
Sounds like: “rope-a”. You tie a rope around a bundle of clothes to carry them all up the mountain.
ropa — clothes
camisa [kah-MEE-sah] — shirt
Sounds like: “Camy's sea”. Camy dives into the sea wearing his favorite shirt, which floats bright on the waves.
La camisa está mojada — The shirt is wet
camiseta [kah-mee-SEH-tah] — T-shirt
Sounds like: “camel settee”. A camel sits on a settee wearing a stretched T-shirt that barely covers its humped back.
La camiseta está sucia — The T-shirt is dirty
pantalón [pahn-tah-LOHN] — trousers
Sounds like: “pantaloon”. The clown's baggy pantaloon trousers flap loudly as he trips over his own feet.
pantalón corto — short trousers
falda [FAHL-dah] — skirt
Sounds like: “fault-a”. The tailor blames a fault in the fabric that ruined the skirt's hemline completely.
La falda es corta — The skirt is short
vestido [behs-TEE-doh] — dress
Sounds like: “vested”. He got vested in stock, then bought his wife a beautiful new dress to celebrate.
Compré un vestido — I bought a dress
zapato [sah-PAH-toh] — shoe
Sounds like: “zap-auto”. A shoe gets zapped by a toy auto car that zooms across the floor and crashes into it.
Mis zapatos son negros. — My shoes are black.
calcetín [kahl-seh-TEEN] — sock
Sounds like: “cal's kitten”. Cal's kitten curls up and sleeps inside a warm woolen sock by the fireplace.
Necesito un calcetín limpio. — I need a clean sock.
abrigo [ah-BREE-goh] — coat
Sounds like: “a brie go”. A wheel of brie cheese goes into your coat pocket to keep warm on a cold walk.
abrigo — coat
chaqueta [chah-KEH-tah] — jacket
Sounds like: “chalk-etta”. Etta draws thick chalk stripes down her jacket sleeve before hanging it on the hook.
Me pongo la chaqueta — I put on the jacket
sombrero [sohm-BREH-roh] — hat
Sounds like: “sombre row”. A sombre row of men stands wearing wide black hats, shading their gloomy faces from the sun.
El hombre lleva un sombrero. — The man wears a hat.
gafas [GAH-fahs] — glasses
Sounds like: “gaffe”. A clumsy man wearing glasses trips and makes a huge gaffe, glasses falling off his face.
Necesito mis gafas para leer. — I need my glasses to read.
bufanda [boo-FAHN-dah] — scarf
Sounds like: “buff and duh”. You buff your neck warm with a soft scarf, feeling silly and cozy, saying 'duh, obviously warm'.
Necesito una bufanda — I need a scarf
guante [GWAHN-teh] — glove
Sounds like: “want-eh”. Picture a hand waving a glove shouting 'want-eh!' at a market stall selling mittens.
Se puso el guante — He put on the glove
cinturón [seen-too-ROHN] — belt
Sounds like: “sin tourin'”. Without touring, he stays home and tightens his belt to save money for the trip.
me puse el cinturón — I put on my belt
botón [boh-TOHN] — button
Sounds like: “bow-tone”. You press a bow-tone button on a shirt and it plays a musical tone sound.
Presiona el botón — Press the button
bolsillo [bohl-SEE-yoh] — pocket
Sounds like: “bowl silly oh”. A silly little bowl falls out of your pocket, spilling soup all over your pants in surprise.
El bolsillo está roto. — The pocket is torn.
llevar [yeh-BAHR] — to wear
Sounds like: “yew bark”. A forester wearing thick gloves carries a bundle of yew bark out of the woods on his shoulder.
Voy a llevar las bolsas — I am going to carry the bags
quitarse [kee-TAHR-seh] — to take off
Sounds like: “quit-tar-say”. You QUIT the guitar and SAY goodbye, taking off the strap and setting it down on the floor.
Ella se quita el sombrero — She takes off her hat.
ponerse [poh-NEHR-seh] — to put on
Sounds like: “pony-they”. They put on riding gear and hop onto the pony together before galloping through the field.
Se ponen los guantes. — They put on the gloves.