Lesson 3: Clothes

Get ready to learn a LOT of vocabulary for clothes! You probably already know some of these words – but we’re going to go beyond the basics, so I’m sure you’ll learn a number of new words as well.

Let’s start with the various parts of a shirt. Some shirts have a collar around your neck, and buttons in the front.

The parts of the shirt that cover your arms are called the sleeves. You can have a long-sleeved shirt, a short-sleeved shirt, or a sleeveless shirt:

Complete this sentence now: “I’m wearing a ______shirt.” (long-sleeved / short-sleeved / sleeveless)

We have specific words for different types of shirts. A T-shirt is usually used for sports and everyday life, and a more formal shirt can be called a dress shirt (for men) or a blouse (for women). When it’s hot, you can wear a tank top.

dress shirt blouse tank top

To cover your legs, you can wear pants or shorts. Many pairs of pants have pockets, and some have a zipper or fly. You can use a belt to hold your pants in place.

pants shorts a pocket

zipper belt

For more formal situations, women can wear a skirt or a dress – and men can wear a suit and a tie.

Complete this sentence now: I’m wearing ______. pants / shorts / a skirt / a dress / a suit

Intimate clothing is called underwear. Here are some different types of underwear. Men can use boxers or briefs. Women use a bra and panties.

The clothes you wear for sleeping can be pajamas or, for women, a nightgown. When you wake up and take a shower, you can put on a bathrobe.

pajamas nightgown bathrobe

What you wear on your feet are shoes. The word “shoes” refers to the general category, but there are some special types – sneakers for sports, high heels for women, sandals for the beach or summer, and boots for rain or snow. And don’t forget socks!

sneakers high heels sandals

boots socks

Complete this sentence now: I’m wearing ______. shoes / sneakers / socks / high heels / sandals / boots

In the first picture, the shoelaces are untied. In the second picture, the shoelaces are tied.

The shoelaces are untied. The shoelaces are tied.

Finally, let’s look at summer and winter clothing. To keep warm in cold weather, you can wear a thick shirt called a sweater, and a jacket or coat to go outside. Your jacket might have a hood to cover your head. If it’s very cold, you can use a hat, scarf, and gloves.

sweater

gloves

In the summer, if you want to go swimming, wear a swimsuit or bathing suit. This is the general word – there are some more specific types. A men’s

swimsuit is called swimming trunks. And women can wear a one-piece swimsuit or a bikini.

swimming trunks one-piece bikini

Verbs Used with Clothing

We use the phrasal verbs put on and take off for actions with specific items of clothing:

• She puts on her jacket when she goes out. • She takes off her jacket when she gets home.

Use the verb wear to describe the current status of someone’s clothing:

• He’s wearing jeans. • She wore a blue dress to the party yesterday. • I’m going to wear my new boots tomorrow.

Use the expression get dressed to talk about putting on your clothes in general. In the morning, after you wake up, you get dressed. The opposite is get undressed – this refers to the general action of removing your clothes. There’s also the expression dress up – that means to wear nicer clothes than normal, like for a special occasion. You dress up to go to a wedding or banquet.

After you wear your clothes, you need to wash them. The process of washing your clothes is called doing laundry – you can use a washing machine and a dryer.

A washing machine

Now that your clothes are clean, you need to fold them – and sometimes iron them as well to remove the wrinkles (lines that form in fabric).

folded clothes iron

You’ve finished Lesson 3! Now try the quiz and short-answer exercises.

Pronunciation Practice collar, buttons, sleeves, long-sleeved shirt, short-sleeved shirt, sleeveless shirt, T-shirt, dress shirt, blouse, tank top, pants, shorts, pockets, zipper, fly, belt, skirt, dress, suit, tie, underwear, boxers, briefs, bra, panties, pajamas, nightgown, bathrobe, shoes, sneakers, high heels, sandals, boots, socks, shoelaces, jacket, coat, hood, hat, scarf, gloves, swimsuit, bathing suit, swimming trunks, one-piece swimsuit, bikini, put on, take off, wear, get dressed, get undressed, dress up, doing laundry, washing machine, dryer, fold, iron, wrinkles

Quiz – Lesson 3

1. He's wearing white ______. A buttons B gloves C socks

2. He's wearing brown ______. A pants B pockets C shorts

3. He's wearing a blue ______shirt. A long-sleeved B short-sleeved C sleeveless

4. He's wearing khaki pants with a black ______. A belt B strap C tie

5. He's wearing a ______and ______. A coat / boots B hat / shoes C bathrobe / sandals

6. She's wearing a ______. A dress B nightgown C swimsuit

7. She's wearing a black ______. A bra B blouse C tank top

8. She's wearing a red ______. A blouse B skirt C suit

9. She's wearing brown and white ______.

A panties B socks C trunks

10. She's wearing a white ______. A collar B dress C nightgown

The quiz answers are at the end of this lesson.

Vocabulary Practice Send me your answers at [email protected] for feedback! 1. What do you normally wear to work?

2. What do you normally wear to parties?

3. What do you usually wear on the weekends?

4. What were you wearing yesterday?

5. What's your favorite piece of clothing?

6. Is there any type of clothing you don’t like?

7. What was the last piece of clothing you bought?

8. How many times a week do you do laundry?

9. When was the last time you dressed up?

10. Describe your closet - approximately how many shirts and pairs of shoes/shorts/pants/socks do you have?

Quiz Answers - 1.B 2.A 3.B 4.A 5.A 6.C 7.A 8.B 9.B 10.B