Clothes and Accessories
Learn 20 easy A1 English words for clothes and accessories - shirt, trousers, jumper, scarf, size - with examples, a story and a quiz.
Clothes words come with a small trap: several of them are always plural, and Britain and America do not agree on the rest. This lesson gives you the 20 you really need, tells you which ones need a pair of, and warns you about the one word you must never mix up. Then come shopping with my mother, who said it would take one hour.
20 words to learn
The 20 words
/kləʊðz/
Everything you wear. Always plural – there is no a clothe.
I need some new clothes for the summer.
/ˈtiːʃɜːt/
A simple cotton top with short sleeves and no buttons.
He wears a black T-shirt every day.
/ʃɜːt/
A top with buttons and a collar.
You need a white shirt for the wedding.
/ˈtraʊzəz/
Clothes for your legs. Always plural. Americans say pants.
These trousers are too long.
/dʒiːnz/
Blue cotton trousers. Always plural.
I wear jeans at the weekend.
/dres/
One piece of clothing for a woman, top and skirt together.
She bought a red dress.
/skɜːt/
Clothing for a woman that hangs from the waist down.
A long blue skirt and a white shirt.
/ˈdʒækɪt/
A short coat that you wear over a shirt.
Take a jacket – it is windy.
/kəʊt/
A long warm piece of clothing for outside in winter.
Put your coat on before you go out.
/ˈdʒʌmpə(r)/
A warm top, usually wool, that you pull over your head. Americans say sweater.
This jumper is very warm.
/ʃuːz/
What you wear on your feet outside. A pair of shoes.
My new shoes hurt my feet.
/sɒks/
What you wear on your feet inside your shoes.
I can never find two socks the same.
/hæt/
What you wear on your head.
Wear a hat – the sun is very strong.
/skɑːf/
A long piece of cloth for your neck or head. Plural: scarves.
She wore a light green scarf.
/bæɡ/
You carry your things in it.
My phone is in my bag.
/wɒtʃ/
A small clock that you wear on your arm.
He got a gold watch from his father.
/rɪŋ/
A small circle of metal that you wear on your finger.
She wears her mother’s ring.
/weə(r)/
To have clothes on your body. Past tense: wore.
What will you wear tomorrow?
/saɪz/
How big or small a piece of clothing is.
Do you have this in a bigger size?
/traɪ ɒn/
To put clothes on in a shop to see if they are good for you.
Can I try on these shoes?
Now read the story
Story · all 20 words
One Hour, She Said
My cousin is getting married in September, and last Saturday my mother took my brother and me into town to buy clothes. She said it would take one hour. It took five, and we came home without shoes.
My brother is simple. He wants three things in life: a black T-shirt, blue jeans and white shoes. My mother said no to all three in about four seconds. “It is a wedding,” she said. So he had to try on a white shirt, grey trousers and a dark blue jacket. He stood in front of the mirror for a long time, said nothing, and then said very quietly that it was fine.
My mother was looking for a dress. She found one in green and one in dark red. The green one was beautiful, but the size was wrong and the shop had no other. So she took the red one, then a black bag to go with it, then a light scarf for her head.
Then she remembered September evenings. “It gets cold at night,” she said, and she bought a warm jumper for my brother, a long coat for herself and three pairs of black socks, because my brother never has any. My sister was not with us, so she received a photograph of a blue skirt and one word: “Well?”
At the end my mother stopped in front of a small window and looked at a silver ring and a thin gold watch for two full minutes. She bought neither of them. But on the day of the wedding she will wear the red dress, her own mother’s old ring and a small white hat, and she will look better than everybody in the room.
The plural trap. Some clothes have two legs or two parts, so English treats them as plural – always:
trousers, jeans, shorts, pyjamas, shoes, socks, glasses
You cannot say a trouser. Say a pair of trousers, a pair of jeans, two pairs of shoes. And the verb is plural too: These trousers are too long.
The word to be careful with. In British English, pants means underwear. If you tell a British person you like their pants, they will be surprised. Say trousers in Britain and pants in America.
Two more pairs like that: jumper (UK) = sweater (US), and trainers (UK) = sneakers (US).
Wear or put on? Put on is the action, wear is the state: I put on my coat (five seconds), then I wear it all day.
Top: T-shirt, shirt, jumper, jacket, coat.
Bottom: trousers, jeans, skirt, dress.
Feet and head: shoes, socks, hat, scarf.
Things you carry or wear: bag, watch, ring.
In the shop: What size are you? Can I try it on?
Look at what you are wearing right now and describe it in one sentence, starting with I am wearing…
Now practise with the questions below.
Check your understanding
Answer the questions below. You will see instantly if you are right.
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