pentinar-se
“pentinar-se” — to comb one's hair in Valencian. Verb, level A1, topic — everyday life and routine. From la pentinadora's world: the hairdo is el pentinat. In a live sentence: “Et pentines davant del mirall” — You comb your hair in front of the mirror. One of 14 words in the set “everyday life and routine” in the Valencian course.
In short
| Written in Valencian | pentinar-se |
| Translation | to comb one's hair |
| Part of speech | verb |
| Level | A1 |
Why it looks that way
From la pentinadora's world: the hairdo is el pentinat
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Et pentines davant del mirallYou comb your hair in front of the mirror
Nearby words: everyday life and routine
Work, home, rest, errands. The words the answer to “how are things?” is made of.
- el treballworkThe double ll is one soft ly sound: trebáY. Both the job as a place and tinc treball — I'm busy
- treballarto workTo work on something is treballar en; to work as someone is treballar de
- despertar-seto wake upReflexive — you wake yourself: em desperte a les set
- aixecar-seto get upLiterally to raise oneself out of bed: m'aixeque a mitges vuit
- rentar-seto wash upWash oneself — or a part: em rente les mans — I wash my hands
- afaitar-seto shaveReflexive again: s'afaita abans de eixir — he shaves before going out
- vestir-seto get dressedDress oneself; the clothes themselves are la roba
- despullar-seto undressLiterally to un-skin oneself: pell is the skin
- seureto sit downThe chair is la cadira and it is where seure sends you
- ficar-se al llitto go to bedLiterally to tuck oneself into the bed: el llit is the bed
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “everyday life and routine”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “to comb one's hair” in Valencian?
From la pentinadora's world: the hairdo is el pentinat
- How do you say “to get dressed” in Valencian?
Dress oneself; the clothes themselves are la roba
- How do you say “to wake up” in Valencian?
Reflexive — you wake yourself: em desperte a les set
- How do you say “to go to bed” in Valencian?
Literally to tuck oneself into the bed: el llit is the bed
- How do you say “to shave” in Valencian?
Reflexive again: s'afaita abans de eixir — he shaves before going out
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “to comb one's hair” in Valencian?
«pentinar-se». In a live sentence: “Et pentines davant del mirall” — You comb your hair in front of the mirror. Verb, level A1, from the set “everyday life and routine”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
From la pentinadora's world: the hairdo is el pentinat. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.