19 Comments
Can you really use this phrasing to say brushing teeth in French? My intuition is that the phrasing is as weird as saying you clean your teeth in English.
you don't say "cleaning your teeth"? Go and clean your teeth! Filthy child. Sounds ok to me...
I don't think that's what Awesomo was complaining about whether it was accepted or not though. I thought they were saying that "clean your teeth" sounds odd in english. I don't think it does though.
1043
Only "brush one's teeth" and "clean one's teeth" are correct translations for "se brosser les dents" or "se laver les dents".
I have never heard anyone speaking UK Nglish say that they are washing their teeth: we brush them, we clean them, we NEVER wash them.
Fergalj, where do you hear people say this, please?
I hear it here in Ireland all the time, I am surprised to hear it's not common elsewhere.
Right. It's a regional thing then. I hear Scottish phrasing regularly and only know it's not straight English English because I've lived there for quite a while.
Thanks, Fergal.
I am a native English speaker in the United States, and I have only ever said "brush," not "wash" or "clean," in regard to teeth. Still, I don't doubt that it is said differently elsewhere! It is probably even different within the U.S. I am in the midwest.
- 1043
No, you have to say:
- Cet homme se lave les dents.
- Cet homme se brosse les dents.
FYI, there is a mistake in your suggestion: since "dents" is plural, it would be "Cet homme lave ses dents.", but it does not sound natural in French.
se laver is a reflexive verb, so "cet homme se lave les dents" already implies that he his doing it to himself. Therefore, it does not make sense to put "ses" there.
That was indeed the other thing which confused me here - so I assumed it had to be about false teeth and he was washing his own (with 'ses' added for emphasis) and could later go on to wash those belonging to others.
