Spanish · A1 · Family moment
Teeth and toilet in Spanish
This guide focuses on essential vocabulary and phrases for daily bathroom routines, including potty training, hand washing, and dental hygiene. It introduces reflexive verbs which are common in Spanish for grooming activities.
What you'll learn
- Ask your child if they need to use the bathroom
- Give simple instructions for hand washing and teeth brushing
- Understand the basic use of reflexive pronouns for personal care
Spanish phrases for teeth and toilet
¿Necesitas ir al baño?
Do you need the toilet?
A polite and common way to ask a child if they need to go.
¡Muy bien en el orinal!
Well done on the potty!
'Orinal' is the word for potty chair.
Tira de la cadena, por favor.
Flush, please.
Literally means 'pull the chain', used even for modern buttons.
Lávate las manos con jabón.
Wash your hands with soap.
Uses the reflexive 'te' (yourself) attached to the verb 'lava' (wash).
Vamos a cepillarte los dientes.
Let's brush your teeth.
In Spanish, we say 'brush yourself the teeth' rather than 'your teeth'.
Abre grande.
Open wide.
A simple command for brushing or checking teeth.
Escúpelo.
Spit it out.
The '-lo' at the end means 'it'.
¡Dientes limpios y brillantes!
Sparkly clean teeth!
'Brillantes' literally means 'shining' or 'bright'.
Hear these phrases and practise them
Tildi plays every phrase out loud, tests you in five-minute lessons and builds them into bedtime stories from your own picture books.
Try it free for 7 daysKey words
El baño
The bathroom / The toilet
Used for both the room and the act of going.
El orinal
The potty
Used specifically for potty training chairs.
El jabón
The soap
A masculine noun (el).
El cepillo
The brush
Commonly 'cepillo de dientes' for toothbrush.
Reflexive Basics: Personal Care
In Spanish, many grooming actions are 'reflexive', meaning the person does the action to themselves. Instead of using possessives like 'my' or 'your', we use reflexive pronouns (like 'te' for you) and the definite article (the).
| Use | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Command (Wash yourself) | Lávate | Lávate las manos. (Wash [yourself] the hands.) |
| Infinitive (To brush you) | Cepillarte | Voy a cepillarte. (I am going to brush [you].) |
More examples
Lávate bien.
Wash yourself well.
A general instruction for washing any part of the body.
¿Ya terminaste?
Are you finished already?
Useful to ask while the child is on the potty.