Spanish Idioms

Tomar el pelo (a alguien) – To pull (somebody’s) leg (to mock or make fun of somebody)

There are many Spanish idioms that are not really so used, and therefore we will not be learning them here. However, a few other Spanish idioms such as “tomar el pelo” are handy, because they are common in all Spanish speaking countries around the world. And they are frequently used as well.

As in many other Spanish idioms and expressions, here we will use the main verb (tomar) in its reflexive form. I said before that reflexive verbs in Spanish are very used. And that almost any verb can be used as a reflexive verb. You cannot learn Spanish without knowing what this is about and how to used reflexive verbs in Spanish. So, this also something I will be mentioning again in the present Spanish video-lesson.

What does it mean that this verb is used in its reflexive form? It means that it is used together with a reflexive pronoun that is directed towards the person the verb is referring to.

Examples using the present Spanish idiom:

• Yo le tomo el pelo – I pull his/her/its leg
• Tú le tomas el pelo – You pull his/her/its leg
• Él / Ella le toma el pelo – He / She / It pulls his/her/its leg
• Nosotros le tomamos el pelo – We pull his/her/its leg
• Vosotros le tomáis el pelo – You all pull his/her/its leg (Spain)
• Ustedes le toman el pelo – You all pull his/her/its leg (Latin-America)
• Ellos le toman el pelo – They pull his/her/its leg

• Tú me tomas el pelo – You pull my leg
• Él / Ella me toma el pelo – He / She / It pulls my leg
• Vosotros me tomáis el pelo – You all pull my leg (Spain)
• Ustedes me toman el pelo – You all pull my leg (Latin-America)
• Ellos me toman el pelo – They pull my leg

• Yo te tomo el pelo – I pull your leg
• Él / Ella te toma el pelo – He / She / It pulls your leg
• Nosotros te tomamos el pelo – We pull your leg
• Ustedes te toman el pelo – You all pull your leg (Latin-America)
• Ellos te toman el pelo – They pull your leg

• Yo os tomo el pelo – I pull your leg (Spain)
• Él / Ella os toma el pelo – He / She / It pulls your leg (Spain)
• Nosotros os tomamos el pelo – We pull your leg (Spain)
• Vosotros os tomáis el pelo entre vosotros – You all pull your leg to each-other (Spain)
• Ellos os toman el pelo – They pull your leg (Spain)

• Yo les tomo el pelo – I pull their leg (also used for “you formal” and “you all” for Latin-America)
• Tú les tomas el pelo – You pull their leg (also used for “you formal” and “you all” for Latin-America)
• Él / Ella les toma el pelo – He / She / It pulls their leg (also used for “you formal” and “you all” for Latin-America)
• Nosotros les tomamos el pelo – We pull their leg (also used for “you formal” and “you all” for Latin-America)
• Vosotros les tomáis el pelo – You all pull their leg (Spain) (also used for “you formal” and “you all” for Latin-America)
• Ustedes les toman el pelo – You all pull their leg (Latin-America) (also used for “you formal” and “you all” for Latin-America)
• Ellos les toman el pelo – They pull their leg (also used for “you formal” and “you all” for Latin-America)

You can find a full list of all the video lessons by clicking on the List of Lessons tab on the Main Menu.

To enlarge the video-screen to full-screen size, click on the icon on the lower right corner of the video.