Learn Spanish: Describe What Someone Is Wearing with Colors and Clothing
Say what people are wearing in Spanish using llevar plus clothing items and colors, with correct adjective agreement and Latin American vocabulary.
By TheaFirst conversations · Yapr Learn
To describe what someone is wearing in Spanish, the key verb is llevar (to wear). You combine llevar with a clothing item and a color: Ella lleva una chaqueta azul (She's wearing a blue jacket). This is different from describing appearance, which uses ser or tener for height, hair, and eye color. Here you focus only on clothes. You will also learn that color words agree in gender and number with the clothing item, and that some everyday clothing words differ across Latin America.
By the end, you can…
- say what a person is wearing using llevar plus a clothing item and a color.
- make color words agree in gender and number with the clothing noun.
- ask someone what they or another person is wearing.
Listen once. Try it slowly. Then say it without looking.
Checking available voices…
Ella lleva una chaqueta azul.
She's wearing a blue jacket.
EH-yah YEH-vah OO-nah chah-KEH-tah ah-SOOL
Basic pattern: llevar + una + clothing item + color. Use this for one item.
Él lleva una camisa blanca y pantalones negros.
He's wearing a white shirt and black pants.
el YEH-vah OO-nah kah-MEE-sah BLAHN-kah ee pahn-tah-LOH-nehs NEH-grohs
Two items. Camisa is feminine, so blanca; pantalones is plural masculine, so negros.
Yo llevo una gorra roja.
I'm wearing a red cap.
yoh YEH-voh OO-nah GOH-rrah ROH-hah
Gorra is common in Latin America for a baseball cap. Roja agrees with the feminine noun.
¿Qué lleva ella?
What is she wearing?
keh YEH-vah EH-yah
Question word qué plus lleva. Word order can also be ¿Qué lleva ella? or ¿Ella qué lleva?
Llevo una sudadera gris y zapatos blancos.
I'm wearing a gray hoodie and white shoes.
YEH-voh OO-nah soo-dah-DEH-rah grees ee sah-PAH-tohs BLAHN-kohs
Sudadera is common in Mexico for a hoodie; in other regions you may hear buzo or hoodie. Gris has one form for both genders.
Pronunciation guides are approximate. Slow playback keeps the original pitch.
Make it make sense
Useful pattern
The core pattern is [person] + llevar + [clothing item with article] + [color]. Examples: Ella lleva una falda negra (She's wearing a black skirt). Nosotros llevamos camisetas verdes (We're wearing green T-shirts). The verb llevar changes with the person: yo llevo, tú llevas, él/ella lleva, nosotros llevamos, ellos llevan. Color words usually follow the noun and agree with it: una camisa blanca, unos pantalones blancos. Colors ending in -o have four forms (blanco, blanca, blancos, blancas); colors ending in -e or a consonant often have only two (verde, verdes; azul, azules).
When to use it
Use llevar for clothes someone has on right now. If you want to say what someone usually wears, you can still use llevar with a time phrase: Normalmente lleva jeans azules (He usually wears blue jeans). To ask about another person, say ¿Qué lleva él? or ¿Qué lleva ella? To ask a friend directly, say ¿Qué llevas? Note that in some regions llevar also means 'to carry,' so context matters: Llevo una mochila can mean 'I'm carrying a backpack' or 'I'm wearing a backpack.' For accessories, the same pattern works: Lleva gafas negras (He's wearing black glasses).
Listen to each line, then take one part and reply out loud.
¿Qué lleva Marta hoy?
What is Marta wearing today?keh YEH-vah MAR-tah oyLleva una blusa rosa y una falda negra.
She's wearing a pink blouse and a black skirt.YEH-vah OO-nah BLOO-sah ROH-sah ee OO-nah FAHL-dah NEH-grah¿Y lleva zapatos negros también?
And is she wearing black shoes too?ee YEH-vah sah-PAH-tohs NEH-grohs tahm-BYENNo, lleva zapatos blancos.
No, she's wearing white shoes.noh YEH-vah sah-PAH-tohs BLAHN-kohsA little context goes a long way
Clothing words vary by region. In Mexico, a hoodie is often sudadera; in Argentina and Uruguay, buzo is common; in Spain, sudadera is also used. Tennis shoes are tenis in much of Latin America, zapatillas in Argentina and Spain, and playeras can mean T-shirts in Mexico. Use the word your local speakers use, and remember that color agreement stays the same.
One thing to watch for
Saying Ella lleva una chaqueta azul with the color before the noun, or using the masculine form with a feminine noun: Ella lleva una chaqueta azulo.
Try this instead: Put the color after the noun and make it agree: Ella lleva una chaqueta azul. For a feminine noun like camisa, say una camisa blanca, not una camisa blanco. Azul does not change for gender, but it does for number: unos pantalones azules.
Your turn
Try answering out loud before checking a possible answer.
1How do you say 'She's wearing a red skirt' in Spanish?
Show a sample answer
Ella lleva una falda roja.
Llevar is the verb for wearing, falda is feminine, and roja agrees with it. You could also say Ella lleva una falda de color rojo, which is also correct.
2Make the color agree: Él lleva una camisa ___ (blanco).
Show a sample answer
blanca
Camisa is feminine singular, so blanco becomes blanca. If the noun were pantalones, the form would be blancos.
3Ask a friend what they are wearing right now.
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¿Qué llevas?
Llevas is the tú form of llevar. You could also ask ¿Qué llevas puesto? or ¿Qué estás usando?, which are also understood in many regions.
Use llevar plus a clothing item and a color, and make the color agree with the noun: Ella lleva una chaqueta azul. Keep clothing vocabulary flexible by region.
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