Learn Spanish (Spain): Ellos se lavan los dientes aquí.

Ellos se lavan los dientes aquí.

They brush their teeth here.

Breakdown of Ellos se lavan los dientes aquí.

Questions & Answers about Ellos se lavan los dientes aquí.

Why does it say se lavan instead of just lavan?

Lavar means to wash. When you wash a part of your own body, Spanish uses a reflexive pronoun to show you are doing the action to yourself. Since the subject is Ellos (They), we use the pronoun se. It literally means they wash themselves.

Why do we use los dientes (the teeth) instead of sus dientes (their teeth)?

In English, we say they brush their teeth. But in Spanish, because the reflexive pronoun se already tells us whose teeth are involved, you just use the word for the (los). Saying sus dientes here would sound unnatural.

Doesn't lavar mean to wash? Why is it translated as brush?

Yes, lavar means to wash. But in Spain, the most common way to say to brush your teeth is literally to wash the teeth: lavarse los dientes. You might also see the verb cepillarse (to brush), but lavarse is very natural and common for this daily routine.

Can se mean other things besides themselves?

Yes! The pronoun se is used for himself, herself, yourself (formal), themselves, and yourselves (formal). In this sentence, we know it means themselves because it is paired with Ellos and the plural verb form lavan.