ESL Blogs

My friends, I see that one of the sentences on my last test turned out to be a true toughie! What a great sentence! It has already made me write my “nightmare blog” and makes me write one more blog as we all buy some clothes/footwear from time to time and should know the appropriate vocabulary. Some EC members may think I went nuts, such things are well-known! Yes, they are, but if you read what I did, you will agree it is time to tell learners what words and expressions to use speaking about shopping and clothing.

First of all, let me introduce my incorrect sentence I am speaking about:

“The pants I tried in the store were little long and I thought I have to shorten them.”

Those who take part in my activities know they have to correct all the mistakes saving the original idea. I believe the idea is clear. I decided to buy new pants. I came to the store, picked out one pair, put it on and looked in the mirror. I saw the pants be longer than I usually wear. But I liked those pants and wanted to buy them. So, I thought, “If I buy them, it will be necessary to have them shortened.”  As I am not a tailor, I obviously thought about taking them to the alterations (it is a shop, usually a part of a big store, where clothes alterations are made).

You know, I like making fun of your mistakes, but I am quite serious now. Let’s consider my mistakes.

TO TRY may mean TO TASTE. I don’t taste the clothes I am going to buy as I am not going to eat them, I will be wearing them. So, when we are going to buy some stuff we wear, we pick it out, take it to the fitting room and TRY IT ON before buying to see if it suits us, if it fits, if we feel comfortable having it on. I’d like to explain some vocabulary.

If we say something suits us/others, we mean we like what we see. It is our subjective opinion. For example, I think blue colors suit me as I am dark-haired and blue-eyed. First of all, I mean shirts. But it is my subjective opinion, nothing more.

If we say that something fits us/others, we mean the right size first of all. Besides, we mean that such a fashion, such cut is good for our figure. If the size is smaller than that we wear, the stuff is too tight for us. If the size is bigger than that we need, the clothes are too loose.

If we choose the right tie for the suit or the right shirt for the pants meaning style and colors and if we doubt what to buy, we usually ask, “Does this tie go with/match this suit?”

I think it is clear now that the right verb is TO TRY ON. As to the tense of this verb, the best choice is the past progressive tense. We are trying on something until we take it off. So, I was having the pants on looking in the mirror and thinking what to do. However, the past simple tense is OK, too.

Back to my sentence. Nothing can be LITTLE LONG. It may be a little long, a bit long, a little bit long or too long. So, if the pants are longer than we wear but we want to buy them anyway, we can have them shortened by a tailor as they need shortening.

Dear ladies, I am very thankful for all your wise advices! Next time, buying pants I will surely follow them. Of course, it is much better to buy shorter ones, but how to find it out without trying them on? It is also a great idea not to buy any pants at all. What for?! But best of all I like the idea of altering the pants into shorts by myself! It is just great! Why to wear pants in the tropical climate?! But the question is why not to buy shorts instead of cutting off the pants? Hahaha!

Well, I tell you, I can’t stop laughing since the beginning of this test! You make my life so bright!

Thank you all!!!