El hocico está mojado.

Hocico usually means an animal’s snout or muzzle, especially the protruding mouth-and-nose area of animals like dogs, pigs, or other mammals.

In some contexts, it can also be used rudely for a person’s mouth or face, but in a basic sentence like El hocico está mojado, learners should normally understand it as an animal’s snout/muzzle.

Spanish uses estar for many states or conditions, especially ones that can change. Being wet is treated as a condition, so Spanish says:

• El hocico está mojado = The snout is wet.

Using ser here would sound wrong in normal Spanish, because wet is not seen as an essential characteristic of the snout. It is just its current condition.

Because mojado has to agree with hocico, and hocico is a masculine singular noun.

So:

• el hocico → masculine singular
• mojado → masculine singular adjective

If the noun were feminine, you would use mojada:

• La nariz está mojada.

Spanish often uses the definite article (el, la, los, las) where English might use the, a possessive, or sometimes nothing at all.

Here, el hocico means the snout. It sounds natural if the speaker is referring to a specific animal’s snout that is already understood from context.

Spanish also commonly uses the definite article with body parts and animal parts:

• La mano está fría.
• Los ojos están cerrados.

So El hocico está mojado is very natural Spanish.

In Latin American Spanish, hocico is pronounced approximately oh-SEE-koh.

A few key points:

• h is silent
• ci sounds like see
• the stress is on ci: ho-CI-co

So it sounds roughly like:

• o-SEE-ko

In Spanish, c changes pronunciation depending on the vowel after it:

• before a, o, u → usually sounds like k
• before e, i → in Latin America, usually sounds like s

So in hocico:

• the first c is before i, so it sounds like s
• the second c is before o, so it sounds like k

That is why hocico sounds like o-SEE-ko.

Yes. Húmedo means damp or moist, while mojado usually means wet.

So:

• Está mojado = it is wet
• Está húmedo = it is damp/moist

For something like a dog’s nose or snout, mojado is very common and natural. Húmedo is also possible, but it can sound a little more descriptive or technical depending on context.

Yes, if the context already makes it clear what you are talking about.

For example, if everyone is looking at the dog’s snout, you could simply say:

• Está mojado. = It’s wet.

But if you want to name the thing explicitly, then:

• El hocico está mojado.

Both are correct; it depends on how much context you have.

Yes, but El hocico está mojado is the most neutral and straightforward order.

You might also hear:

• Está mojado el hocico.

That version is more marked and can sound more emphatic, poetic, or context-driven. For learners, the normal pattern to remember is:

• subject + estar + adjective
• El hocico está mojado.

Yes. El hocico is singular, so it refers to one snout or muzzle.

If you wanted the plural, you would say:

• Los hocicos están mojados.

Notice that both the verb and adjective change:

• está → están
• mojado → mojados

Mostly, yes. In normal use, hocico refers to an animal’s snout or muzzle.

If you use hocico for a person, it is usually insulting, similar to saying snout or using a rude word for someone’s mouth/face. So learners should be careful and mainly use it for animals unless they clearly understand the tone.

Not exactly. Nariz means nose, while hocico refers to the broader snout/muzzle area.

So:

• La nariz está mojada. = The nose is wet.
• El hocico está mojado. = The snout/muzzle is wet.

If you are specifically talking about a dog’s nose, nariz can work. But if you mean the whole snout area, hocico is the better word.