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English · CEFR Band 1 (A1) · Chapter 23

Clothes and colours 옷과 색깔

옷·치수·색깔: clothes, shirt, trousers, shoes, dress, size, red, blue, black, white. 핵심 문법은 "a / an" + 색깔 + 명사: a red shirt, an expensive dress. 영어는 셀 수 있는 하나의 물건 앞에 작은 "a"(모음 앞엔 "an")가 필요해요 — 앞에 색깔이 있어도요. 한국어엔 관사가 없어서 한국어 화자는 빼먹어요: "I want blue shirt" ✗ → "I want a blue shirt" ✓. 발음 코너: "shirt", "shoes", 그리고 까다로운 "clothes". 문화: 쇼핑과 줄 서기.

Dialogue

blue shirt or a blue shirt? — blue shirt일까 a blue shirt일까?

Emma Minsu, what do you want to buy? 민수, 뭐 사고 싶어요?
Minsu I want to buy blue shirt. 파란 셔츠를 사고 싶어요. (실수: 셔츠 하나엔 "a" → "a blue shirt")
Emma Say "a": I want to buy a blue shirt. "a"라고 하세요: I want to buy a blue shirt.
Minsu Oh, I want to buy a blue shirt. 아, 파란 셔츠 하나 사고 싶어요.

Dialogue

At the clothes shop — 옷 가게에서

Minsu Hello. I want to buy a red shirt. 안녕하세요. 빨간 셔츠를 사고 싶어요.
Assistant What size? We have a big shirt and a small shirt. 치수가 어떻게 되세요? 큰 셔츠와 작은 셔츠가 있어요.
Minsu The small shirt, please. How much is it? 작은 셔츠 주세요. 얼마예요?
Assistant It's twelve dollars. 십이 달러예요.

Vocabulary

汉字	POS	Meaning
clothes	n.	옷
shirt	n.	셔츠
trousers	n.	바지
shoes	n.	신발
dress	n.	원피스
size	n.	치수
red	adj.	빨간
blue	adj.	파란
black	adj.	검은
white	adj.	하얀

Grammar

"a / an" + colour + noun "a / an" + 색깔 + 명사

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.

색깔은 명사 앞에 와요: a red shirt, a blue dress, black shoes. 셀 수 있는 하나엔 색깔 앞에도 "a"가 필요해요: a red shirt, a white bag. 다음 낱말이 모음 소리로 시작하면 "an": an expensive shirt, an old bag. 복수엔 "a" 없이: blue shoes, black trousers("a blue shoes" 아님). 한국어엔 "a"가 없어서 한국어 화자는 "I want blue shirt"라고 해요 — 하지만 영어는 필요해요: I want a blue shirt. 관사 수업의 그 작은 "a"인데, 이제 가운데 색깔이 있어요.

I want a red shirt. 빨간 셔츠 하나 사고 싶어요.
This is an expensive dress. 이건 비싼 원피스예요.
She has a white bag and black shoes. 그녀는 하얀 가방과 검은 신발이 있어요.
Do you have a big shirt? I want a small size. 큰 셔츠 있어요? 작은 치수 원해요.

Culture

Shopping and queuing 쇼핑과 줄 서기

미국, 영국, 호주, 캐나다에서의 쇼핑에는 조용한 규칙 몇 가지가 있어요. 값은 보통 정해져 있고, 줄에서 차례를 기다리며, 물건을 되가져올 수도 있어요. 이걸 알면 가게에 들어가기가 훨씬 쉬워요.

정해진 가격

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.

줄 서기

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".

영수증을 보관하세요

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.

그러니 영어권 가게에서는: 태그의 값을 내고, 줄에서 차례를 기다리고, 되가져올 때를 대비해 영수증을 보관하세요. 규칙은 간단해요 — 알고 나면 쇼핑이 쉬워져요.

pronunciation

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