How to Express Articles of Clothing in Chinese

When you’re learning Chinese, accumulating vocabulary is an important part of the language journey.

Although it’s not necessary to memorize TONS of vocab that you won’t use often, like technical terms or very specific items, it is always good to learn the ones you find the most practical, and have a guide to refer to when expressing less common things!

With that in mind, we’ve come out with another infographic and blog post in our supplemental vocabulary series, to give your vocabulary a boost!

This post is on a SUPER practical topic: 衣服 (yī fu) - clothing/clothes!

If you missed our previous vocab series posts, be sure to check out some of the most popular ones, such as our ultimate guide to colors in Chinese and our guide to body parts in Chinese.

Now, let’s get to it!

First, check out this infographic for some of the most useful content for articles of clothing in Chinese. You can right click to save the image, or download the infographic for future practice and reference.

Then, check out the below vocabulary lists with audio, plus a bunch of bonus content!

Vocabulary Lists

衣服 (yī fu) - clothing/clothes

TOPS

衬衫 (chèn shān) - shirt/blouse
背心 (bèi xīn) - tank top
T恤衫 (T xù shān) - T-shirt
毛衣 (máo yī) - sweater
卫衣 (wèi yī) - hoodie
运动衫 (yùn dòng shān) - sweatshirt
外套 (wài tào) - coat/jacket
羽绒服 (yǔ róng fú) - down jacket (common of puffer winter coats)

BOTTOMS

裤子 (kù zi) - pants/trousers
牛仔裤 (niú zǎi kù) - jeans
短裤 (duǎn kù) - shorts
裙子 (qún zi) - skirt/dress
连衣裙 (lián yī qún) - dress
运动裤 (yùn dòng kù) - sweatpants
紧身裤 (jǐn shēn kù) - leggings
瑜伽裤 (yú jiā kù) - yoga pants

ACCESSORIES/UNDERGARMENTS

帽子 (mào zi) - hat
手套 (shǒu tào) - gloves
围巾 (wéi jīn) - scarf
袜子 (wà zi) - socks
胸罩 (xiōng zhào) - bra
内裤 (nèi kù) - underwear

SHOES

鞋 (xié) - shoes
运动鞋 (yùn dòng xié) - sneakers/athletic shoes
高跟鞋 (gāo gēn xié) - high heels
正装鞋 (zhèng zhuāng xié) - dress shoes
芭蕾舞鞋 (bā lěi wǔ xié) - flats
靴子 (xuē zi) - boots
人字拖 (rén zì tuō) - flip flops
凉鞋 (liáng xié) - sandals
拖鞋 (tuō xié) - slippers

OTHER

睡衣 (shuì yī) - pajamas
西装 (xī zhuāng) - suit
西服 (xī fú) - suit
制服 (zhì fú) - uniform
校服 (xiào fú) - school uniform

Want to put these words to use?

Here are a few ways you can these words - just insert the vocab word you want, where the red sample word is:

我很喜欢你的鞋！(wǒ hěn xǐ huan nǐ de xié)

- I really like your shoes!

你的衬衫很好看！(nǐ de chèn shān hěn hǎo kàn)

- Your shirt is looks nice!

这是我新买的毛衣。(zhè shì wǒ xīn mǎi de máo yī)

- This is the new sweater I bought.

我要去买帽子。(wǒ yào qù mǎi mào zi)

- I am going to go buy a hat.

他穿着黑色的裤子。(tā chuān zhe hēi sè de kù zi)

- He’s wearing black pants.

Note: When expressing “to wear” in Chinese, 穿 (chuān) is generally used when the article of clothing is something that’s frequently used - for words like 衣服 (yī fu), pants 裤子 (kù zi), 衬衫 (chèn shān), 袜子 (wà zi), 裙子 (qún zi), 鞋 (xié), etc.

On the other hand, 戴 (dài) is used more for accessories, like 眼镜 (yǎn jìng) - glasses, 帽子 (mào zi) - hats, 手套 (shǒu tào) - gloves, 项链 (xiàng liàn) - necklaces, etc.

Learn More Chinese!

We hope you enjoyed this post on useful clothing vocabulary in Chinese and how to use it!

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