French · Chapter 20 · Lesson 22 · Themed review
Les vêtements
Getting dressed. porter is to wear as well as to carry, and taille is your size as well as your waist.
Practise this lesson
16-word session
A quick mix of exercises - recognise, recall, type and build each word. Miss one and it comes back round until it sticks.
Worth knowing
Porter is to wear and also to carry
is the verb you need most here, and it does two jobs that English keeps apart: to wear and to carry.
. She is wearing a blue dress.
. He is carrying the cases.
Underneath they are the same idea, something supported on the body, and French sees no reason to split them.
Dressing yourself
S' is the act of getting dressed. déshabiller is undressing. Both are reflexive because you are doing it to yourself, which is the same pattern as washing.
is to put on: . is to take off. So is the state and is the moment.
Taille does two jobs too
is your size in clothing and also your waist. That is not a coincidence, and it makes shopping vocabulary easier than it looks: the thing measured and the measurement share a word.
Sizes themselves are European numbers, and shoe sizes in particular do not map neatly onto British ones. pointure is specifically shoe size, which is a distinct word worth having.
Colours after the noun
French puts most adjectives after the noun, and colours always: , . The colour also agrees with what it describes, which produces from .
The exceptions are colours borrowed from objects. Orange and marron do not agree, because underneath they are still a fruit and a chestnut: marron, not marrons.
Trousers are singular
is one item and takes a singular verb, where English insists on plural trousers. The same goes for . If you want a pair of anything in French you generally just say the noun.
Words in this theme
habiller/a.bi.je/to dress (someone), most often reflexive s'habiller (to get dressed)
porter/pɔʁte/to carry, to wear
la tenue/tə.ny/outfit, dress; conduct; upkeep
la robeʁɔbdress
la chemise/ʃə.miz/shirt
le pantalon/pɑ̃.ta.lɔ̃/trousers
le jean/dʒin/jeans (French counts them as one singular garment, un jean)
la veste/vɛst/jacket
le costume/kɔstym/suit; costume
la chaussure/ʃo.syʁ/shoe
le chapeau/ʃa.po/hat
la poche/pɔʃ/pocket; bag, pouch
le bouton/bu.tɔ̃/button; spot, pimple; bud
la taille/taj/size, waist
la couleur/ku.lœʁ/colour
la mode/mɔd/fashion (la mode, feminine); also le mode, masculine - mode, method, way