English: Clothing & Sizes

Level: A2. Clothes come up every time you shop, pack a bag or describe someone. A set of everyday words for garments, colours and sizes — plus a few shop phrases — lets you buy what you need and say whether it fits.

By the end of this page you can…

…name common clothes, give your size, talk about colour and pattern, and ask to try something on and say if it fits.

Clothes you wear

Group the words by where they go on the body and they are easier to remember. On top: a shirt, a T-shirt, a blouse, a jumper (American sweater), a jacket, a coat. On the bottom: trousers (American pants), jeans, shorts, a skirt, a dress. On your feet: shoes, boots, trainers (American sneakers), socks. To stay warm or finish a look: a hat, a scarf, gloves, a belt.

Some of these words are always plural because they have two legs or two parts: trousers, jeans, shorts, pyjamas, glasses. You never say a trouser. To talk about one item, use a pair of: a pair of jeans, two pairs of shorts.

Sizes

Clothes sizes come in two styles. Letter sizes work almost everywhere: XS (extra small), S (small), M (medium), L (large), XL (extra large). To say yours, use I’m a…: I’m a medium. Number sizes (for shirts, trousers, shoes and so on) depend on the country and the brand, so a number that fits in one shop may not fit in another.

To ask and answer about size:

• What size are you? — I’m a medium. / I take a size 40 shoe.
• What size is this? — It’s a large.
• Do you have this in a smaller size?

Colours and patterns

Describe clothes with a colour and, if you like, a pattern. Common colours: black, white, grey, red, blue, green, yellow, brown. Common patterns: plain (one colour), striped (lines), checked (squares), spotted (dots), floral (flowers). The colour or pattern goes before the noun: a blue shirt, a striped tie, black boots.

In the shop: trying things on

When you shop for clothes, you usually want to try them on in the fitting room (also called the changing room). Useful phrases:

• Can I try this on?
• Where are the fitting rooms?
• Have you got this in blue? / Do you have this in a size 12?
• It fits perfectly. / It doesn’t fit.
• It’s too big / too small / too tight / too loose.

Two words learners mix up: fit and suit. A thing fits when it is the right size; a thing suits you when it looks good on you. These shoes fit, but I don’t think they suit me.

Example sentences

Press play and repeat each line. These are the exact words and phrases you will use in a clothes shop.

Quick recap before you practise.

Practice

How to say it

A few clothing words trip up learners — copy the sounds, don’t read the spelling.

• clothes sounds almost like close — the -thes blends into one soft ending, not “clo-thez”.
• trousers stresses the first part: TROW-zers, rhyming the start with house.
• suit rhymes with boot (/suːt/) — one smooth vowel, not “s-you-it”.
• blouse rhymes with house and ends in an s sound, not a z.

Quiz

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