Quick answer
¿Tiene un destornillador de estrella?
Do you have a cross-head screwdriver? El destornillador is masculine, and de estrella is how Spanish describes the Phillips head.
The words
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| la herramienta | the tool |
| el destornillador | the screwdriver |
| el martillo | the hammer |
| el clavo | the nail |
| el tornillo | the screw |
| la llave inglesa | the adjustable spanner |
| el taladro | the drill |
| la sierra | the saw |
| los alicates | the pliers |
| la cinta métrica | the tape measure |
| la escalera | the ladder |
| la pintura | the paint |
| la brocha | the paintbrush |
| arreglar | to fix |
| taladrar | to drill |
The phrases you will actually say
Worth knowing
The shop is la ferretería, and the activity is el bricolaje, borrowed from French; the English letters DIY mean nothing in Spanish. La llave does double duty as key and spanner, which is why the tool needs its qualifier: la llave inglesa is the adjustable one, la llave fija the open-ended one. Los alicates behave like las tijeras and stay plural even for a single pair, so you ask for unos alicates. La escalera covers both the staircase in the building and the ladder you carry, distinguished when needed as la escalera de mano. Two false friends: la pintura is paint here but also means a painting in an art context, and la sierra is a saw as well as a mountain range. In flats, drilling is bound by local noise rules that typically protect midday rest and the night, so neighbours will expect the hammering to stop.
Practice
Practise your tools and diy words
0/8 matched — tap a Spanish word, then its translation
Check yourself
Which word means the hardware shop?