Bañarse, ducharse, la tina y la ducha

Bañarse and ducharse are words you pick up relatively early in your Spanish studies. But just in case these words are new to you, they mean to bath and to shower, respectively.

Here's some quick and simple examples of how to use these :

Voy a ducharme OR Me voy a duchar
I'm going to take a shower

Voy a bañarme OR Me voy a bañar
I'm going to take a bath

But you may not hear ducharse very often. Why is that you ask? Because in some Spanish speaking countries, when people use bañarse, they often mean they're going to take a shower. With that in mind our translation of bañarse changes:

Voy a bañarme OR Me voy a bañar
I'm going to take a shower

So then, if bañarse is used to talk about showering, how the heck do we know when someone is actually talking about taking a bath? That's where "la tina" comes into play. If you wanted to say that you were going to take a bath, you would say:

Voy a bañarme en la tina / Me voy a bañar en la tina

Our example above directly translates to "I'm going to take a bath".

You can also say:

Voy a bañarme en la ducha / Me voy a bañar en la ducha

And you've probably figured out by now that ducha means shower.

FYI, other words for bathtub are bañera and bañadera.

I don't know all the countries that use bañarse and ducharse as synonyms, but I can tell you that México does. You can also expect to hear "la tina" to refer to the bathtub.

Don't worry, no one will look at you like a freak if you use ducharse to say you're going to take a shower. It's standard Spanish that will be understood anywhere you go.

Hmm. Ironically, now that I've finished this post, me voy a bañar.

¡Adios!