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Study in the app →English · CEFR Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 23
Clothes and colours Ropa y colores
Ropa, tallas y colores: clothes, shirt, trousers, shoes, dress, size, red, blue, black, white. La gramática clave es "a / an" + color + sustantivo: a red shirt, an expensive dress. El inglés necesita la palabrita "a" (o "an" antes de un sonido vocálico) ante una cosa contable — aun con un color delante. El coreano no tiene artículos, así que los coreanos lo omiten: "I want blue shirt" ✗ → "I want a blue shirt" ✓. Rincón de pronunciación: "shirt", "shoes" y el difícil "clothes". Cultura: comprar y hacer cola.
Dialogue
blue shirt or a blue shirt? — ¿blue shirt o a blue shirt?
- Emma Minsu, what do you want to buy? Minsu, ¿qué quieres comprar?
- Minsu I want to buy blue shirt. Quiero comprar camisa azul. (desliz: una camisa necesita "a" → "a blue shirt")
- Emma Say "a": I want to buy a blue shirt. Di "a": I want to buy a blue shirt.
- Minsu Oh, I want to buy a blue shirt. Ah, quiero comprar una camisa azul.
Dialogue
At the clothes shop — En la tienda de ropa
- Minsu Hello. I want to buy a red shirt. Hola. Quiero comprar una camisa roja.
- Assistant What size? We have a big shirt and a small shirt. ¿Qué talla? Tenemos una camisa grande y una pequeña.
- Minsu The small shirt, please. How much is it? La camisa pequeña, por favor. ¿Cuánto es?
- Assistant It's twelve dollars. Son doce dólares.
Vocabulary
| 汉字 | Pinyin | POS | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| clothes | n. | ropa | |
| shirt | n. | camisa | |
| trousers | n. | pantalones | |
| shoes | n. | zapatos | |
| dress | n. | vestido | |
| size | n. | talla | |
| red | adj. | rojo | |
| blue | adj. | azul | |
| black | adj. | negro | |
| white | adj. | blanco |
Grammar
"a / an" + colour + noun "a / an" + color + sustantivo
A colour goes before the noun: a red shirt, a blue dress, black shoes. For ONE countable thing you also need "a" before the colour: a red shirt, a white bag. Use "an" when the next word starts with a vowel sound: an expensive shirt, an old bag. Plurals take no "a": blue shoes, black trousers (not "a blue shoes"). Korean has no word for "a", so Korean speakers say "I want blue shirt" — but English needs it: I want a blue shirt. This is the same little "a" from the articles lesson, now with a colour in the middle.
El color va antes del sustantivo: a red shirt, a blue dress, black shoes. Para UNA cosa contable también hace falta "a" antes del color: a red shirt, a white bag. Usa "an" cuando la palabra siguiente empieza por sonido vocálico: an expensive shirt, an old bag. Los plurales no llevan "a": blue shoes, black trousers (no "a blue shoes"). El coreano no tiene la palabra "a", así que los coreanos dicen "I want blue shirt" — pero el inglés la necesita: I want a blue shirt. Es la misma palabrita "a" de la lección de artículos, ahora con un color en medio.
- I want a red shirt. Quiero una camisa roja.
- This is an expensive dress. Este es un vestido caro.
- She has a white bag and black shoes. Ella tiene un bolso blanco y zapatos negros.
- Do you have a big shirt? I want a small size. ¿Tienes una camisa grande? Quiero una talla pequeña.
Culture
Shopping and queuing Comprar y hacer cola
Comprar en EE. UU., el Reino Unido, Australia y Canadá sigue unas cuantas reglas silenciosas. Los precios suelen ser fijos, esperas tu turno en la cola y a menudo puedes devolver cosas. Saber esto hace mucho más fácil entrar en una tienda.
Precios fijos
In most shops and supermarkets, the price on the tag is the price you pay — there is no haggling. Asking a shop assistant to lower the price on a shirt would feel strange. Bargaining does happen, but only in a few places: outdoor markets, car sales, and second-hand or garage sales. So at a normal shop, just take it to the till and pay the marked price.
La cola
Waiting your turn is taken seriously, especially in Britain. The British call it a "queue"; Americans say a "line", and you "stand in line". You join at the back and wait — pushing in front of others ("jumping the queue") is considered very rude. At a shop with several tills, there may be one line that feeds them all. When it is your turn, the assistant will say "Next, please".
Guarda el recibo
After you pay, the assistant gives you a receipt — keep it. In most English-speaking countries you can bring an item back within a set time (often two weeks or a month) for a refund or an exchange, but usually only with the receipt. If a shirt is the wrong size or colour, this is normal and easy: just say "I'd like to return this" or "Can I exchange it?". Shops expect it, and "the customer is always right" is a common saying.
Así que en una tienda de habla inglesa: paga el precio de la etiqueta, espera tu turno en la cola y guarda el recibo por si quieres devolver algo. Reglas sencillas — y una vez que las conoces, comprar resulta fácil.
pronunciation
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