I Used to Dress My Dog in Shorts in Spanish | Native Wording

“Solía vestir a mi perro con pantalones cortos” is the most natural way to express that past habit, with a few friendly tweaks depending on tone.

You’re trying to say something very specific: a repeated habit in the past, done for a while, not just one single time. English uses “used to” for that job. Spanish usually reaches for the imperfect (pretérito imperfecto) or for soler in the imperfect: solía.

This article gives you the clean translation, then shows the small choices that make it sound normal in conversation: which verb fits, where the “shorts” detail goes, and how to swap in “dress up” when you mean costume vibes. You’ll also get patterns you can reuse for other “I used to…” sentences.

Core Translation Options You Can Trust

Here are the most common ways to say it, ordered from most “default” to more playful. All of them mean a repeated past habit.

Option 1: Solía + Infinitive

Solía vestir a mi perro con pantalones cortos.

Solía means “used to” as a habit. It pairs with an infinitive like vestir (“to dress”). This is often the closest match to the English structure.

Option 2: Imperfect Of “Vestir”

Vestía a mi perro con pantalones cortos.

Spanish can drop the “used to” word and let the imperfect tense carry the “habit” meaning. That’s why vestía can be enough on its own in context.

Option 3: Add “Disfrazar” When It’s More Like A Costume

Solía disfrazar a mi perro con pantalones cortos.

Disfrazar is “to dress up / to costume.” If your dog was wearing tiny shorts for laughs, photos, or a theme, this can fit better than plain vestir.

I Used to Dress My Dog in Shorts in Spanish With Natural Tone Tweaks

The sentence is correct as written, yet Spanish speakers often nudge it a bit depending on what you want the listener to feel: neutral, funny, or slightly self-mocking. These tweaks keep meaning steady while polishing the vibe.

Pick The Best Word For “Shorts”

Pantalones cortos works in most places and is clear. In some regions, people also say shorts or pantalonetas, yet those choices are more regional. If you want a safe, widely understood option, stick with pantalones cortos.

If you’re curious about accepted meanings and usage, the RAE dictionary entry for “short” shows how the borrowed term is treated in Spanish. If you prefer the fully Spanish phrase, you can check RAE’s entry for “pantalón” to see how the base word is defined.

Choose “Con” Or “En”

Both can work, but they feel slightly different.

• Con points to what you put on your dog: con pantalones cortos.
• En can sound like “in,” often used when describing how someone is dressed: en pantalones cortos. With dogs, con is the safer default.

Use “A Mi Perro” Or Drop It After You Set Context

Spanish often avoids repeating nouns once it’s clear. If you’ve already said “my dog” earlier, you might say:

Solía vestirlo con pantalones cortos.

Lo refers to your dog. It’s short, natural, and tidy.

Say “Dress” Versus “Dress Up” Clearly

If you mean ordinary clothing, vestir fits. If you mean a gag outfit, disfrazar fits. If you mean you put clothes on your dog even when it was silly, you can blend tone with a small add-on:

Solía vestir a mi perro con pantalones cortos, por gracia.

Por gracia signals “for laughs.” It keeps the sentence light without changing the grammar.

How Spanish Packs “Used To” Into The Imperfect

English learners often search for a single “used to” word. Spanish has one (soler), yet the bigger idea is tense. The imperfect is the go-to tense for repeated actions, habits, and background routines in the past.

If you want a clean overview from a major language institution, Instituto Cervantes on the imperfect lays out common uses with plain explanations and examples.

When you say vestía, you’re not saying “I dressed” one time. You’re saying it was a routine. Context does the rest. Add a time cue if you want to lock in the “back then” feeling:

• De pequeño, vestía a mi perro con pantalones cortos. (When I was little…)
• Antes, solía vestir a mi perro con pantalones cortos. (Before…)
• En esa época, lo vestía con pantalones cortos. (In that period…)

Notice how these time cues sound casual. They help the listener land the story fast.

Common Mistakes That Make The Sentence Sound Off

You can be “right” grammatically and still sound a bit odd. These are the traps English speakers fall into with this sentence.

Using The Simple Past For A Habit

Vestí a mi perro con pantalones cortos sounds like a single event, like “I dressed my dog in shorts (one day).” If your point is habit, use vestía or solía vestir.

Forgetting The Personal “A”

When the direct object is a person or a pet treated like a person, Spanish usually uses the personal a: vestir a mi perro, disfrazar a mi perro. Without it, the line can sound clipped or non-native.

Putting The Pronoun In The Wrong Place

With solía, you can place the object pronoun before the conjugated verb or attach it to the infinitive:

• Lo solía vestir con pantalones cortos.
• Solía vestirlo con pantalones cortos.

Both are fine. Pick the one that feels easier to say out loud.

Table Of Ready-To-Use Variations

These variations help you match meaning and mood without rewriting from scratch.

What You Mean	Spanish Sentence	When It Fits
Simple past habit	Solía vestir a mi perro con pantalones cortos.	Neutral, general statement
Habit with tighter rhythm	Vestía a mi perro con pantalones cortos.	Storytelling, casual talk
Costume vibe	Solía disfrazar a mi perro con pantalones cortos.	Photos, jokes, themed outfits
“Back then” emphasis	Antes, solía vestir a mi perro con pantalones cortos.	You want a clear time contrast
Childhood frame	De pequeño, vestía a mi perro con pantalones cortos.	Nostalgic tone
Pronoun version	Solía vestirlo con pantalones cortos.	Context already names the dog
Laughs implied	Solía vestir a mi perro con pantalones cortos, por gracia.	You want to sound self-aware
More direct phrasing	Solía ponerle pantalones cortos a mi perro.	You want a simple verb choice

How To Build Similar Sentences Fast

Once you can say this one line, you can make dozens of “I used to…” sentences without thinking too hard. Use these two patterns.

Pattern A: Solía + Infinitive + Object

Solía + verbo + a alguien + complemento.

Swap in what you did, who it was done to, and what you used. A few swaps:

• Solía bañar a mi perro los domingos. (I used to bathe my dog on Sundays.)
• Solía llevar a mi perro al parque. (I used to take my dog to the park.)
• Solía ponerle un suéter cuando hacía frío. (I used to put a sweater on him when it was cold.)

Pattern B: Imperfect + Time Cue

Antes / En esa época / De pequeño + verbo en imperfecto.

This pattern is slick for storytelling. It can feel more “Spanish” because you’re not forcing a direct “used to” word each time.

Picking Between “Vestir” And “Poner”

Vestir is the clean verb for “to dress (someone).” Still, Spanish speakers also use poner (“to put on”) when the clothing item is the main thing. That’s why this sounds normal too:

Solía ponerle pantalones cortos a mi perro.

Both sentences land well. If you’re unsure, choose based on what feels easier to pronounce. If your tongue trips on vestir, use ponerle. Nobody will blink.

For verb meaning and accepted uses, the RAE entry for “vestir” is a solid reference.

Table Of Verb Forms You’ll Reuse

These are the pieces you’ll keep reaching for when you talk about past habits with pets, kids, or routines.

English Idea	Spanish Form	Notes
I used to (habit)	solía + infinitivo	Direct “used to” feel
I dressed (habit)	vestía	Imperfect; habit implied
I dressed up (habit)	disfrazaba	Imperfect; costume tone
I used to put on	le ponía	Item-first phrasing
my dog	mi perro / lo	lo after context
shorts	pantalones cortos	Wide-use phrasing
back then	antes / en esa época	Locks in past frame

Small Add-Ons That Make It Sound Like Real Speech

Once the base sentence is correct, tiny add-ons can make it sound like something a friend would say, not a textbook line.

Use A Reaction Word

Try opening with a quick reaction to your own memory:

• Qué vergüenza… solía vestir a mi perro con pantalones cortos. (So embarrassing…)
• Me da risa… lo vestía con pantalones cortos. (It makes me laugh…)

Add A Reason Without Overexplaining

If the listener might wonder why, add a short reason clause:

• Solía vestir a mi perro con pantalones cortos porque se veía gracioso.
• Lo vestía con pantalones cortos para las fotos.

Make The Time Window Concrete

Spanish storytelling often uses a time anchor. You can keep it short:

• Cuando vivía con mis padres, solía vestir a mi perro con pantalones cortos.
• En 2020, lo vestía con pantalones cortos casi cada semana.

Self-Check Before You Say It

Run through this checklist right before you use the sentence in writing or speech:

• Is it a repeated habit? Use solía or the imperfect.
• Is it costume-like? Use disfrazar or disfrazaba.
• Did you include the personal a with mi perro?
• Do you want “shorts” to be universal? Use pantalones cortos.

If you stick to those points, your sentence will sound clear, natural, and easy to understand across Spanish-speaking regions.