Las barbas son sucias.
Beards are dirty.
In front of the mirror, the beard gets the blame for collecting dust and dirt. Barbas is feminine plural, so the ending is -as.
From Regreso del todopoderoso · Spanish audio
Spanish vocabularyA1 · Beginner
How to say "dirty" in Spanish
sucio
adjectivefeminine: suciaplural: sucios
"Dirty" in Spanish is sucio, or sucia with feminine nouns. To say something is dirty right now, use estar: Este vaso está sucio. For a dirty joke, Spanish switches to a color and says un chiste verde.
Hear "sucio" in a real movie scene
A mirror and a beard under fire. The video starts and stops on that line.
Sucio in everyday phrases
Laundry, money, jokes: where dirty shows up in Spanish.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| la ropa sucia | dirty laundry |
| ensuciar | to get something dirty |
| la suciedad | dirt, dirtiness |
| el juego sucio | foul play, dirty tricks |
| el dinero sucio | dirty money |
| un chiste verde | a dirty joke |
Tip: Los trapos sucios se lavan en casa, dirty rags get washed at home, is the Spanish way to say don't air your dirty laundry in public.
Grammar: sucio, sucia
Four points, from the endings to the c.
Four endings
sucio, sucia, sucios, sucias: un cuaderno sucio, unas mesas sucias.Estar or ser
Está sucio is how something looks right now: La mesa está sucia. With ser, sucio describes what it's like in general: Las barbas son sucias.The verb ensuciar
To get something dirty is ensuciar: No ensucies el suelo. To get yourself dirty, add -se: ensuciarse.The c before i
Latin Americans say SOO-syoh. In most of Spain the c sounds like th: SOO-thyoh.Example sentences
Sentences from the Wordy Spanish course. Tap to listen.
El cuaderno sucio no es bueno.
The dirty notebook is no good.
El coche es muy sucio.
The car is very dirty.
Este está sucio.
This one is dirty.
¡Qué corona tan sucia!
What a dirty crown!
Common mistakes
Mistakes learners make with this word, and how to fix them.
✗una mesa sucio
✓una mesa sucia
Mesa is feminine, so the ending changes to -a.
✗un chiste sucio
✓un chiste verde
Spanish calls a dirty joke green. A dirty old man is un viejo verde, too.
✗SOO-see-oh (pronunciation)
✓SOO-syoh
The i and the o glide together, so sucio has two syllables, not three.
Practice: 3 quick exercises
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How to remember it
Sucio starts with the sound of soot. Anything covered in soot is sucio.
Questions about "dirty" in Spanish
How do you say dirty in Spanish?
Sucio, or sucia for feminine nouns: un vaso sucio, una mesa sucia.
How do you say dirty laundry in Spanish?
La ropa sucia. For family secrets, the saying is Los trapos sucios se lavan en casa.
How do you say dirty joke in Spanish?
Un chiste verde. Spanish uses green for this kind of joke, not sucio.
How do you say "to get dirty" in Spanish?
Ensuciarse: Me ensucié las manos, I got my hands dirty. To make something else dirty, use ensuciar.
