French clothing vocabulary: clothes, shoes and sizes

Clothes in French are les vêtements, and the everyday pieces are la chemise (shirt), le pantalon (trousers), la robe (dress), la veste (jacket) and les chaussures (shoes). The verb you build it all around is porter (“to wear”). Two details surprise English speakers: le pantalon is singular even though “trousers” is plural in English, and les vêtements and les chaussures are normally plural.

WordTranscriptionTranslationExample
vêtements/vɛtmɑ̃/clothingJ'achète de nouveaux vêtements.I buy new clothing.
chemise/ʃəmiz/shirtIl a mis une chemise bleue pour le travail aujourd'hui.He wore a blue shirt to work today.
pantalon/pɑ̃talɔ̃/trousersCe pantalon est noir et très élégant.These trousers are black and very smart.
robe/ʁɔb/dressElle a mis une robe rouge pour la fête.She wore a red dress to the party.
veste/vɛst/jacketIl a mis sa veste avant de sortir.He put on his jacket before going outside.
chaussures/ʃosyʁ/shoesElle a acheté de nouvelles chaussures pour le mariage.She bought new shoes for the wedding.
porter/pɔʁte/wearElle aime porter des couleurs vives en été.She likes to wear bright colours in summer.
taille/taj/sizeQuelle taille vous faut-il pour cette veste ?What size do you need for this jacket?
essayer/eseje/try onPuis-je essayer cette veste avant de l'acheter ?Can I try on this jacket before I buy it?
bijoux/biʒu/jewelryElle aime les bijoux.She loves jewelry.

Porter: the verb for “to wear”

Porter means “to wear” (and also “to carry”). Use it to say what someone has on.

Elle porte une robe bleue et des chaussures noires.
She’s wearing a blue dress and black shoes.

Notice the colour adjective comes after the noun and agrees with it: une robe bleue, des chaussures noires.

Gender and number: a pair of traps

Each clothing word has a gender, and some differ in number from English. Get the article right and the rest follows. The gender question is the same one behind un vs une.

English French Gender / number
shirt la chemise feminine
trousers le pantalon masculine, singular
dress la robe feminine
jacket la veste feminine
shoes les chaussures feminine, plural
clothes les vêtements masculine, plural

So one pair of trousers is un pantalon, and “clothes” is always les vêtements, never a singular word.

Shopping: sizes and trying on

In a shop, two words do most of the work: essayer (“to try on”) and la taille (“size”). For shoes, size is a different word — la pointure.

Je peux essayer ce pantalon ? Quelle taille faites-vous ?
Can I try on these trousers? What size are you?

Ask Quelle taille ? for clothing and Quelle pointure ? for shoes.

Common mistakes

Making “pantalon” plural for one item

One pair of trousers is singular in French.

Je porte des pantalons. (for one pair) → Je porte un pantalon.
I’m wearing trousers.

Using a singular for “clothes”

Vêtements is plural; there is no everyday singular “a clothing”.

un vêtement pour tous les jours (meaning “clothes”) → des vêtements pour tous les jours
everyday clothes

Forgetting that chaussures is feminine plural

Shoes come as les chaussures, feminine and plural, so adjectives agree.

des chaussures noir → des chaussures noires
black shoes

These words slot straight into everyday errands, so they pair well with general French food and café vocabulary for getting around town. In Fluera you learn each item, hear it, and use it inside short shopping sentences like je voudrais essayer cette veste, so the genders and plurals stick. Try it when you practice French.

Practice

Question 1 of 10

vêtements/vɛtmɑ̃/

Frequently asked questions

How do you say "clothes" in French?
"Clothes" is les vêtements (masculine, plural). There is no common singular form for it. To say what you wear, use the verb porter: je porte des vêtements confortables ("I wear comfortable clothes").
Why is "le pantalon" singular when "trousers" is plural?
French treats a pair of trousers as one item, so it is singular: un pantalon, le pantalon. English uses a plural ("trousers", "pants") for the same garment. Say des pantalons only for several pairs.
What is the verb for "to wear" in French?
Porter. It also means "to carry". Elle porte une veste ("she's wearing a jacket"). Remember that colour and most descriptive adjectives come after the noun and agree with it: une veste rouge.
How do you ask for a size in French?
For clothing, ask Quelle taille faites-vous ? ("What size are you?") and use la taille. For shoes, size is a different word: la pointure — Quelle pointure ?. The verb for trying something on is essayer.