English vocabulary - Martin Hunt 2016

6 Clothes (1)

In this unit you will learn

✵ the names of different clothes

✵ what verbs we use with clothes (put on, get dressed...)

✵ what clothes are singular/ plural

Basics

Do you know these words? Check in a dictionary and write the word in your language.

Test your basics

Write the English word in the space provided. Don’t look at page 59!

Extension

More clothes

✵ A hat is something you wear on your head.

✵ A shirt for a woman can be called a blouse.

✵ Many men wear a tie with their shirt when they go to work.

✵ If you wear a matching jacket and [trousers/pants], we say you are wearing a suit. Most businessmen wear suits to work; a suit for a woman is often a jacket and a skirt, but she can wear a [trouser suit/pantsuit].

✵ [Trainers/sneakers] are shoes you wear for sport.

✵ On their feet, people often wear socks under their shoes.

✵ Under your [trousers/pants] you wear [underpants/shorts] (men) or [knickers/panties] (women); you can also wear a [vest/undershirt] under your shirt to keep you warm.

✵ Women also wear a bra (brassiere) and often wear [tights/ pantyhose] on their legs.

✵ In bed we wear pyjamas, some women wear a nightdress (nightgown).

✵ You can wear a belt for your [trousers/pants] and many women carry a [handbag/purse].

✵ We wear earrings on our ears, a necklace around our neck, a bracelet on our arms and rings on our fingers.

Make-up

✵ We can also wear make-up; many women wear make-up on their face.

✵ You put lipstick on your lips, mascara on your eyelashes, and eye shadow on your eyelids.

✵ We also use the verbs put on, take off and wear for make-up. For example:

’Where’s Jane?’ ’She’s putting on her lipstick.’

I always wear make-up when I go out.

The last thing I do at night is take off my make-up.

Verbs

✵ We use the verb wear to talk about clothes we have on. Be careful with your grammar. We use wear (Present Simple) to talk about what we do every day or routine; we use am/are/is wearing (Present Continuous) to talk about now. For example:

Normally I wear a dress to work, but today I’m wearing a [trouser suit/pantsuit].

✵ In the morning you get dressed, that is you put on your clothes. Get dressed means all your clothes, but we often use put on for one piece of clothing. For example:

At eight o’clock I get dressed. First I put on my shirt, then I put my [trousers/pants] on.

✵ At night we use the opposite verbs, that is, you get undressed or take off your clothes. For example:

I get undressed just before I go to bed. I take off my shirt and [trousers/pants] and put them away carefully.

✵ If you change, then you go from one set of clothes to another.

For example:

After work, I change from a shirt and tie to jeans and a T-shirt.

Note: Put on/take off/get dressed/get undressed/change. We use the Present Simple to describe what we do every day; we use the Present Continuous to describe the action if it’s happening now and not finished. For example:

I’ll be there in a minute, I’m just getting dressed!

(action now, unfinished)

At bedtime, I change into my pyjamas, (routine)

Singular and plural

Clothes can be singular or plural: clothes that are plural normally have two parts. Look at the box below.

✵ With singular clothes we normally use a/an. For example: a shirt, a tie, a dress.

✵ We can also count singular clothes, for example: two shirts, three ties, four dresses.

✵ For plural clothes we use pair of. For example: a pair of [trousers/pants], a pair of shoes.

✵ We can also count plural clothes, for example: two pairs of [trousers/pants], three pairs of shoes.

Note: With the verb wear, we don’t usually use the phrase pair of. For example: He’s wearing a shirt and [trousers/pants].

Questions

✵ Asking for opinion

What do you think of...?

Do you like my...?

I really like it/them.

It’s/They’re really nice.

Sorry, I don’t like it/them much.

Be careful of singular and plurals:

Example:

What do you think of my coat? I really like it.

Do you like my shoes?

No, sorry I don’t like them much.

Practice

Exercise 1 Complete the crossword with the correct words.

Clues

Down

1 It’s cold! Put a ... on over your shirt!

3 I know she’s married, she has a ... on her finger.

4 After work I always ... into a T-shirt and jeans.

5 ... dressed! It’s time for school.

7 A shirt for a woman.

10 I need a new ... of shoes.

Across

2 You wear a ... on your arm.

6 Many women carry their make-up in their ... (U.K.)

7 You often wear a ... with [trousers/pants],

8 You wear a ... around your neck.

9 I always wear a ... to work.

11 She put her ... on both ears.

Exercise 2 Choose the correct verb for each sentence. For example:

1 Every night I get undressed/I’m getting undressed and then I have a shower.

2 I’m lucky, I wearI’m wearing jeans to work.

3 ’Where’s Jackie?’ ’She changes/She’s changing upstairs.’

4 If I have an important meeting, I always wear/I’m always wearing a suit.

5 You can’t talk to Steve at the moment, he gets dressed/he’s getting dressed.

6 I put on/l’m putting on a different tie every day.

7 Today, Marie wears/is wearing a [trouser suit/pantsuit| by Chanel.

8 ’Hurry up!’ ’All right, all right, I just put on/l’m just putting on my shoes.’

Exercise 3 Do you think the sentences below are correct?

Correct any that you think have mistakes. For example:

John wears a skirt to work. X John wears a suit to work.

I normally wear pyjamas to bed. ✓

1 ’What do you wear at the weekend?’ ’I normally wear a pair of jeans.’

2 ’It’s hot! Can I put my sweater on?’ ’Of course.’

3 ’What’s Mike wearing today?’ ’His new suit. Horrible, isn’t it!’

4 ’Do you like my [trousers/pants]?’ ’Yes, I really like them.’

5 ’What did you buy yesterday?’ ’A pair of shoes. Do you like them?’

6 ’Are you all right?’ ’No, I think I need belt for these [trousers/pants].’

7 ’Where’s Sue?’ ’She’s putting on her lipstick. She won’t be a minute.’

8 ’What’s the first thing you do when you come home from work?’ ’Easy. I put on my clothes.’

9 ’What’s the American word for tights?’ ’Socks.’

10 ’What do you think of my dress?’ ’Sorry, I don’t really like them much.’

Now check your answers.

► Exercise 4 (Recordings 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5) Pronunciation practice. Listen and repeat the words on the recording. Use the transcript at the back of the book to help you if necessary.

In use

Reading

Before you start, check you know these words:

headache

wish

mirror

boring

Неге is a passage taken from a story. However, the sentences are all mixed up.

Reading 1 Put the sentences into the correct order.

Reading 2 Are these sentences true (✓) or false (X).

At the start of the story John was wearing pyjamas. ✓ John liked his work clothes. X John didn’t like his work clothes (he hated them).

1 John took his pyjamas off.

2 He put on a pair of [trainers/sneakers].

3 John had to get dressed to go out to a restaurant.

4 John wanted to change back into his pyjamas and go back to bed.

5 John put on a shirt, a pair of [trousers/pants], and a pair of shoes.

6 John put on a shirt before he put on his [trousers/pants].

► Listening

Note: A credit card bill tells us the amount of money we must pay back to a credit card company (like Visa or Mastercard).

You will hear a woman telling her husband about what she has bought.

Listening 1 (Recording 6.6) Listen and put a ✓ in the box below if she has bought these clothes.

Listening 2 Listen to the recording again and write down how many she has bought of each item of clothing. If she hasn’t bought any, put a cross (X).

Now check your answers.

Recap

Here are the words we learned in this unit. Do you know them all? Write down the translations if necessary.

Clothes for the legs and feet

shoes  boots

jeans  shorts

[trainers/sneakers]

socks

[knickers/panties]

[tights/pantyhose]

[trousers/pants]

skirt

[underpants/shorts]

Clothing for the rest of the body

sweater   T-shirt   shirt

jacket   coat   dress

hat    blouse   tie

suit    [trouser suit/pantsuit]

[vest/undershirt]

bra

pyjamas

nightdress (nightgown)

Extras

belt

[handbag/purse]

earrings

necklace

bracelet

ring

Make-up

lipstick

mascara

eye shadow

Verbs

wear

get dressed

get undressed

put on

take off

change

Singular and plural

a/an (a skirt, a jacket)

pair of (a pair of jeans, a pair of boots)

Questions

What do you think of...?  Do you like...?

I really like them. Sorry, I don’t like it much.

What to do next

✵ Look at the clothes you are wearing - can you remember the English words for them all?

✵ Look in some [clothes shops/clothing stores] and test yourself on the clothes.

✵ Read a story and see how many clothes are described.

Why not try these units next?

✵ Clothes (2)

✵ Body (1) and (2)

Answer key for this unit

Exercise 2

1 Every night I get undressed and then I have a shower.

2 I’m lucky, I wear jeans to work.

3 ’Where’s Jackie?’ ’She’s changing upstairs.’

4 If I have an important meeting, I always wear a suit.

5 You can’t talk to Steve at the moment, he’s getting dressed.

6 I put on a different tie every day.

7 Today, Marie is wearing a [trouser suit/pantsuit] by Chanel.

8 ’Hurry up!’ ’All right, all right, I’m just putting on my shoes.’

Exercise 3

1 ’What do you wear at the weekend?’ ’I normally wear a pair of jeans.’

2 ’It’s hot! Can I put my sweater on?’ ’Of course.’ X

’It’s hot! Can I take my sweater off?’ ’Of course.’

3 ’What’s Mike wearing today?’ ’His new suit. Horrible, isn’t it!’ ✓

4 ’Do you like my [trousers/pants]?’ ’Yes, I really like them.’ ✓

5 ’What did you buy yesterday?’ ’A pair of shoes. Do you like them?’ ✓

6 ’Are you all right?’ ’No, I think I need belt for these [trousers/pants].’ X

’Are you all right?’ ’No, I think I need a belt for these [trousers/pants].

7 ’Where’s Sue?’ ’She’s putting on her lipstick. She won’t be a minute.’✓

8 ’What’s the first thing you do when you come home from work?’ ’Easy. I put on my clothes.’ X

’What’s the first thing you do when you come home from work?’ ’Easy. I change my clothes.’

9 ’What’s the American word for tights?’ ’Socks.’ X

’What’s the American word for tights?’ ’Pantyhose’.

10 ’What do you think of my dress?’ ’Sorry, I don’t really like them much.’ X

’What do you think of my dress?’ ’Sorry, I don’t really like it much.’

Reading

Reading 1

Reading 2

1 John took his pyjamas off. ✓

2 He put on a pair of [trainers/sneakers]. X He put on a pair of shoes.

3 John had to get dressed to go out to a restaurant. X

John had to get dressed to go out to work.

4 John wanted to change back into his pyjamas and go back to bed. ✓

5 John put on a shirt, a pair of trousers, and a pair of shoes. X

John put on a shirt, a tie, a pair of [trousers/pants], and a pair of shoes.

6 John put on a shirt before he put on his [trousers/pants]. ✓

Listening

Listening 1

Listening 2