Spanish Phrase
Enséñales cómo usar los contactos de emergencia.
Meaning
‘Teach them how to use the emergency contacts.’ The speaker is giving a directive to someone else (a parent, teacher, etc.) to show another person or group the proper way to access or activate emergency contact features on a phone or device.
When to use
Use this sentence when you need to give instructions about safety features—e.g., a parent showing a child how to call 112, a teacher guiding students on the phone’s SOS function, or a tech support agent explaining the emergency‑contact setup.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Enséñalescómousarloscontactosdeemergencia
Imperative + indirect object pronoun
‘Enséñales’ is the affirmative imperative of ‘enseñar’ with the indirect object pronoun ‘les’, meaning ‘teach them’. The pronoun is attached to the verb.
Interrogative ‘cómo’
‘Cómo’ (with accent) introduces a question‑like clause meaning ‘how’. It is not a relative pronoun; the accent distinguishes it from ‘como’ (as/like).
Infinitive after ‘cómo’
After ‘cómo’, the verb stays in its infinitive form: ‘usar’ (to use).
Definite article with plural noun
‘Los contactos’ uses the definite article because you are referring to specific emergency contacts that the listener already knows about.
Prepositional phrase ‘de emergencia’
‘De emergencia’ functions as an adjective phrase describing the type of contacts.
🗨In Conversation
Enséñales cómo usar los contactos de emergencia.
Teach them how to use the emergency contacts.
Claro, les mostraré paso a paso y les explicaré cuándo es apropiado usarlos.
Sure, I’ll show them step by step and explain when it’s appropriate to use them.
✕Common Mistakes
Enséñales como usar los contactos de emergencia.
Missing accent; ‘como’ means ‘as/like’, while ‘cómo’ asks ‘how’.
Enséñales a usar los contactos de emergencia.
Grammatically correct but redundant when ‘cómo’ is already present; learners often mix the two structures.
Enséñales cómo usar los contactos de emergencias.
The noun ‘emergencia’ stays singular; the plural ‘emergencias’ changes the meaning and sounds unnatural here.
↔Alternatives
Muéstrales cómo activar los contactos de emergencia.
Show them how to activate the emergency contacts.
Enséñales a usar los contactos de emergencia.
Teach them to use the emergency contacts.
Indícales la forma de usar los contactos de emergencia.
Indicate to them the way to use the emergency contacts.
Cultural Tip
In most Spanish‑speaking countries the universal emergency number is 112, but many places also accept 911. Modern smartphones have a built‑in SOS feature that can be activated even when the phone is locked. When teaching this phrase, point out the local emergency number and demonstrate the specific steps for the device’s operating system (iOS, Android, etc.).