Lesson 4: Shopping and Clothing

Shopping and Clothing

You find a sweater you like, but the first one is too small. Je peux essayer une taille plus grande ? — Can I try a larger size? A useful shopping conversation lets you explain what you need, compare options, and make a decision.

Build on Lesson 3's clothing and colors. By the end, you will be able to ask for an item, discuss size and fit, understand a price, and pay. Start with a greeting from Lesson 1: Bonjour during the day, or Bonsoir in the evening.

1. Name the item you need

Learn each noun with its article. Une écharpe is feminine, even though l'écharpe hides the article's gender. Chaussure is feminine and can be singular: une chaussure, one shoe. Des chaussures is plural because it refers to more than one shoe, not because French forbids the singular. Likewise, one sock is une chaussette.

Un pantalon is singular for one pair of trousers: Le pantalon est noir. For several pairs, use des pantalons. Keep that difference in mind when translating English “pants.”

For pronunciation, pull uses the rounded French u from tu, not the vowel in English “pool.” Jupe has that same vowel. Chaussures contains /s/, not /z/, in a common pronunciation /ʃosyʁ/. English respellings are only rough aids; they cannot represent every French sound.

Useful places and people:

• le magasin — store/shop; la boutique — shop/boutique.
• le marché — market; le supermarché — supermarket.
• le vendeur / la vendeuse — salesperson.
• acheter — buy; vendre — sell; payer — pay.

J'achète une robe means “I'm buying a dress.” Learn the spelling change from acheter to j'achète with the phrase.

2. Say what you are looking for

Chercher already includes “look for”: Je cherche une robe, without an extra pour before the thing sought. You can still add a purpose afterward: Je cherche une robe blanche pour une fête — I'm looking for a white dress for a party. Une fête is a party or celebration.

Voudrais is a conditional form of vouloir. Je voudrais softens a request, much like “I would like.” It is a useful starting pattern, not the only polite option. Je peux voir ce pull, s'il vous plaît ? is also a request. Je veux means “I want” and can sound blunt as a demand; it is grammatically valid. Tone and context matter.

Point to a particular item

Ça can stand alone for this or that: Je voudrais ça. Before a noun, choose a demonstrative determiner:

Un article here means an item for sale. Ce/cet/cette/ces do not by themselves make the English near/far distinction. Context or pointing can identify the item. To make the contrast explicit, add -ci and -là: cette chemise-ci — this shirt; ce pull-là — that sweater.

Express a need

J'ai besoin de… means “I need…”: J'ai besoin de nouvelles chaussures pour le travail — I need new shoes for work. Pour travailler means “for working/to work” and is another way to express the purpose.

Nouveau → nouvelle → nouveaux → nouvelles gives the common agreement forms. In de nouvelles chaussures, nouvelles is feminine plural and normally comes before the noun. Des chaussures neuves stresses that the shoes are new or unworn; nouvelles chaussures can mean a new or replacement pair.

3. Try it on and discuss the fit

La taille means size in this context. Ask Quelle taille ? or Vous faites quelle taille ? — What size do you wear? For shoe size, learn la pointure: Vous faites quelle pointure ? Académie, pointure

Petite taille, taille moyenne, and grande taille describe small, medium, and large sizes. To request a change from the item you have, une taille plus grande means a larger size and une taille plus petite a smaller size. A brand's size label and the actual fit are separate pieces of information; check the shop's size guide if you need a conversion.

• Je peux essayer cette robe ? — Can I try on this dress?
• Puis-je essayer cette robe ? — May I try on this dress? A more formal phrasing.
• La cabine d'essayage est là. — The fitting room is there. La cabine is a shorter form in context.

Essayer means “try”; with clothes, it means “try on.” After trying something, describe the result:

Aller can express fit or suitability: ça va, but ces chaussures vont because the subject is plural. Me identifies who the item fits. Ça te va bien means it fits/suits you, addressing a friend with tu.

Why “c'est trop petit” but “elle est trop petite”?

In C'est trop petit, the adjective follows the neutral demonstrative ce, written c' before est, and takes masculine singular form. If you name the dress or use elle, agree with the feminine noun: Cette robe est trop petite. Elle est trop petite. With plural shoes: Ces chaussures sont trop petites. The subject of the sentence determines the agreement. OQLF, ce and adjective agreement

Try it: Complete Cette veste est trop ___ and C'est trop ___, using the appropriate form of grand.
Answers: grande; grand.

4. Ask about color, material, and appearance

Quelle couleur ? asks “What color?” En quelle couleur ? asks “In what color?”

• Une chemise bleue — a blue shirt: bleue agrees with chemise.
• Avez-vous cette chemise en bleu ? — Do you have this shirt in blue? In this en + color pattern, use en bleu, not en bleue.
• Nous n'avons pas ça en rouge. — We don't have that in red.
• Nous avons cette veste seulement en gris et en marron. — We have this jacket only in gray and brown. Seulement means only.

Colors normally follow the noun in these everyday descriptions: une robe blanche, un pantalon noir. This does not mean every adjective must follow: une petite veste, de nouvelles chaussures. Keep the individual pattern with its meaning, as in Lesson 3.

For material, use en too:

Ask C'est en quelle matière ? — What material is it made of?

A friend might ask Comment tu trouves cette robe ? — What do you think of this dress? Here trouver asks for an opinion, rather than a location. Elle est belle describes the dress; ça te va bien says it suits the wearer.

5. Understand and compare prices

Le prix is the price; l'argent is money. Ask C'est combien ? or Combien ça coûte ? — How much is it? Combien can also ask “how many”: Combien de pulls ? — How many sweaters?

Le pull coûte quarante euros — The sweater costs forty euros. With plural shoes, use coûtent: Combien coûtent ces chaussures ? You can also point and ask C'est combien, ces chaussures ?

Add these numbers to Lesson 2:

Quarante-cinq is 40 + 5. These examples help you read a price or size; you do not need a complete table of every higher number yet.

Cher/chère means expensive here. Trop cher means too expensive; pas cher or bon marché means inexpensive. Assez means enough, or fairly with an adjective: assez grand can mean big enough or fairly big, depending on context.

To compare, use plus + adjective + que:

Cette chemise est plus chère que ce pull. — This shirt is more expensive than that sweater. Chère agrees with feminine chemise. For the reverse comparison, moins chère que means less expensive than.

Another correct pattern is Cette chemise coûte plus cher que ce pull — This shirt costs more than that sweater. Here cher goes with the verb coûte and stays unchanged. Compare elle est chère with elle coûte cher. Académie, cher as adjective or adverb

Market practice: Apples cost 3 euros le kilo — €3 per kilogram. You ask Je voudrais deux kilos de pommes, s'il vous plaît. The vendor replies Ça fait six euros — That comes to six euros. 2 × 3 = 6. After a weight, use de: un kilo de pommes, deux kilos de pommes. These are invented practice prices; use the displayed price and ask if the unit is unclear.

6. Decide and pay

Je prends ça means “I'll take this/that” when deciding to buy. D'accord, je prends cette écharpe — Okay, I'll take this scarf.

You can replace a known item with a pronoun: Je le prends for a masculine singular item, je la prends for a feminine one, and je les prends for plural items. If you decide against buying, Non merci or Je cherche autre chose — I'm looking for something else — is enough.

• Je peux payer par carte ? — Can I pay by card?
• Je peux payer en espèces ? — Can I pay in cash?
• Je paie par carte. / Je paye par carte. — I'm paying by card; both spellings are accepted.
• Je vais payer par carte. — I'm going to pay by card.
• Voilà ! — Here you are! Useful when handing something over.

Learn par carte and en espèces as phrases. En liquide is another expression for in cash. For a shop receipt, ask Un ticket de caisse, s'il vous plaît. L'addition is the bill in a restaurant or café, which you will use in Lesson 5.

7. Complete a shopping conversation

You: Bonjour ! Je cherche un pull bleu.
Hello! I'm looking for a blue sweater.

Salesperson: Bonjour ! Voilà. Vous voulez essayer ?
Hello! Here you are. Would you like to try it on?

You: Oui, s'il vous plaît. … C'est trop petit. Vous avez une taille plus grande ?
Yes, please. … It's too small. Do you have a larger size?

Salesperson: Bien sûr. Voici une taille plus grande.
Of course. Here is a larger size.

You: Ça me va ! C'est combien ?
It fits me! How much is it?

Salesperson: Quarante euros.
Forty euros.

You: Je le prends. Je peux payer par carte ?
I'll take it. Can I pay by card?

Salesperson: Oui. Merci, bonne journée !
Yes. Thank you, have a good day!

You: Merci, au revoir !
Thank you, goodbye!

Check: Why le in je le prends? Which phrase asks for a size relative to the first one?
Answers: Le replaces masculine pull; une taille plus grande asks for a larger size.

Now choose a scarf, jacket, or shoes. Name the item and color, ask to try it, describe one fit problem, and decide whether to buy. Use Le magasin ferme à six heures from Lesson 2 if you also need to mention closing time. In Lesson 5, reuse the request, quantity, and payment patterns to order food.