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Learn some useful French phrases to talk about what clothes you are wearing.

Join Scottish pupils as they give French a go!

Listen and guess what they are saying before trying yourself.

Tip: This video can be used as an interactive introduction to this topic or as a recap on key vocabulary and phrases already learnt.

Remember!

It doesn't matter if your pronunciation isn't perfect. Try your best and have fun!

If you want to talk about what you are wearing, a really useful verb is porter (to wear). If you want to say 'I am wearing' something, you say Je porte.

You can then add a noun afterwards to explain what clothes you are wearing.

• Je porte un manteau – I am wearing a coat
• Je porte un pull – I am wearing a jumper

Did you know?

The ending of the verb changes, depending on which person or thing is doing the action. For the verb porter, the ending for je (I), elle (she) and il (he) is e.

Notice that the verb ending used with tu (you) is es. Listen to the sound of the verbs below. They all sound the same except for porter.

If you want to say what someone else is wearing, you say:

• Elle porte - She is wearing
• Elle porte une jupe - She is wearing a skirt
• Il porte - He is wearing
• Il porte une écharpe - He is wearing a scarf

To ask what someone else is wearing, you say Qu'est-ce que tu portes ? - What are you wearing?

Have a look at the French vocabulary for clothes and see how much you can remember.

Remember that to say 'a', you use un for masculine singular nouns and une for feminine singular nouns.

For plural nouns, you can say des (some) in French. Remember, if the noun is plural, it will often end in s.

Here are some examples of plural nouns in French for clothes:

Did you know?

In French, 'trousers' are singular - un pantalon.

Here are some other items of clothing that are plural in English but singular in French:

Did you know?

The verb you use to say 'to wear' porter also means 'to carry'.

So you can say:

• Je porte un pull - I wear a jumper

• Je porte un parapluie - I carry an umbrella

You can use clothes with different verbs as part of your classroom daily routines. Some common instructions are below:

• Mettez - put on - instruction for a group of pupils

• Mets - put on - instruction for one pupil

• Accrochez - hang up - instruction for a group of pupils

• Accroches - hang up - instruction for one pupil

• Changez - change - instruction for a group of pupils

• Changes - change - instruction for one pupil

When saying 'your' in French for classroom instructions, use:

• ton when speaking to one pupil.

eg:

ton t-shirt - your t-shirt

Changes ton t-shirt - Change your t-shirt

• ta when speaking to one pupil.

eg:

ta veste - your jacket

Mets ta veste - Put on your jacket

• vos- when speaking to a group (such as the whole class)

eg:

vos chaussures - your shoes

Changez vos chaussures s'il vous plaît! - Change your shoes please!

Here are some examples:

Mettez vos chaussures s’il vous plaît ! - Put on your shoes please!

Accrochez les vestes s’il vous plaît ! - Hang up your coats please!

Changez les chaussures s’il vous plaît ! - Change your shoes please!

Mets ton pull s’il te plaît ! - Put on your jumper please!

Below are some important French sounds that you have heard in this topic. Try practising them yourself out loud.

1. ch

In French, the letters ch make the same sound as the letters sh do in English.

• des chaussures – some shoes

How many other French words in this article can you spot that contain this sound?

2. om, on

In French, the letters on and om make a nasal sound. Put your mouth in the position to say o as in orange, then allow the air to come down your nose. This is a nasal sound.

• un pantalon – trousers

3. q and qu

The word for 'cap' is casquette. The sound for the letters qu in the middle of this word make the same sound as c or k in English.

• une casquette – a cap

Remember that the e on the end of the word is silent.