español · A2 · vocabulary · 4 minutes
Household chores
Remember housework as natural action-and-object combinations.
Understand the choice
Turn housework into memorable action-object pairs: poner la lavadora, sacar la basura, fregar los platos, barrer el suelo, and planchar la ropa. These combinations are more useful than isolated household nouns.
Core rule: Many chores are fixed verb-noun combinations and should be learned as complete phrases.
Notice it in context
Hoy limpio el baño, pongo la lavadora y saco la basura.
Today I clean the bathroom, run the washing machine, and take out the rubbish.
Many chores are fixed verb-noun combinations and should be learned as complete phrases.
Mi compañero friega los platos.
My flatmate washes the dishes.
Fregar changes e to ie in stressed forms.
¿Puedes barrer la cocina?
Can you sweep the kitchen?
Poder softens the request.
What to remember
- Poner la lavadora means to start or run the washing machine, not simply to place it somewhere.
- Fregar can mean washing dishes or scrubbing a floor; the object completes the meaning.
Common trap: Do not translate “do the dishes” with hacer los platos, which sounds like making plates. Use lavar or fregar los platos.