How to say "衣服" correctly in English - Clothes,Clothing, Dress, Suit, Garment,Costume...

The other day, when I was at work, I found a foreign colleague wearing a formal dress, and I wanted to exchange pleasantries with him. Which one should I use? The words came to my mouth and was swallowed by myself, and finally just said "Hi...".

I'm sure we've all had similar experiences with synonyms, and we don't know how to differentiate between them, and sometimes it's especially embarrassing to use the wrong one. In order to better help you distinguish these common synonyms. The first time I've seen this, I've seen it, and I've seen it, and I've seen it, and I've seen it, and I've seen it.

Today we'll look at the expression "clothes".

Both clothes and clothing can mean "clothes" and are used as a collective term for "clothes", but there are differences in usage:

1. clothes is a plural noun without a singular form. It can't be preceded by an indefinite article or a number word, but it can be modified by some, these, those, many, few and so on. e.g.

Such as those clothes / few clothes / many clothes

2. clothing is an uncountable noun.

They wear very little clothing.

Difference: the meaning of clothes is more concrete, while the meaning of clothing is more abstract. In terms of style, clothing is more formal than clothes.

Compare:

I changed my clothes.

He is washing his clothes.

Our clothing protects us against the cold.

We are well provided with food and clothing.

The two are often used interchangeably (note: one is plural, the other uncountable), if the subtle differences are not taken into account. 如：

He spent a lot of money on clothes [clothing]. He spent a lot of money on clothes.

dress means "clothes", there are two uses:

1. used as a countable noun, mainly refers to women's dresses or up and down one-piece women's clothing, can also refer to children's clothes, but does not refer to the clothes worn by men. For example:

She makes all her own dresses.

She was wearing a beautiful dress.

2. Used as an uncountable noun, it is a general term for "clothes" (for both men and women).

He doesn't care much about dress.

Note: In modern English, the use of dress as an uncountable noun is not common. It is mainly used to refer to some special kinds of clothes (such as dresses, etc.). For example:

evening dress 晚礼服 full dress 大礼服

national dress 民族服服? fancy dress 化装服装

suit is a countable noun referring to a set of clothes. A man's suit consists of a shirt, undershirt, and pants. A woman's suit consists of a blouse and a skirt. business?suit

Suit is also used to form clothing for special purposes, such as a bathing suit, a sports suit, a space suit, and a diving suit.

Costume is often used to refer to a costume, or a full set of clothes worn on certain occasions, but also can refer to a historical period or a country, a particular era or a group of special clothing.

For example: My cousin went to the party in a pirate costume (my cousin wore a pirate costume to attend the ball)

This is the first time that a pirate costume has been worn to a ball. My cousin went to the party in a pirate costume. Elizabethan costume(伊丽莎白时代的服装);cowboy costume(牛仔服服)

Garment即是一件clothing，特别指穿在外面的clothing，如She pulled the garment on and zipped it up. She pulled the garment on and zipped it up.

Garment is more of a business term, used in the production and sale of clothing.

Apparel and attire are mainly used for the full elegant clothing worn outside, but this meaning has been mostly replaced by "dress" and "clothes", which means to put on and zip it up. Apparel (which can often be written wearing apparel) is a more formal use of the words clothing and clothes. Compare it with attire, which favors the full range of garments someone wears; and attire, which tends to favor the impression given by someone's clothes.

For example dress in formal attire to show your professional attitude towards the interview ;the strange attire of the eccentric old woman.

Attire is often seen on the wall with slogans like "Proper attire is a must", "Proper/formal/casual attire".

Gear and togs both refer to clothes, but in a much more casual tone; togs is a very old-fashioned word, and nowadays, if used at all, it almost always refers to swimsuits. Even when used for swimsuits, togs is mostly replaced by gear, while the latter has specific uses beyond general clothing. For example: Modern gear does not suit stout or older men; riding gear.

Garb is a bookish word used to refer to the typical clothing of a certain profession or status. e.g. the garb of a priest; kingly garb

We don't need to memorize every single one of the above clothing expressions, just the ones that are most commonly used in specific situations. Those most commonly used on specific occasions can be expressed,

1. Clothes and clothing is the most commonly used in the spoken language, clothes meaning is more specific, while the meaning of clothing is more abstract;

2. attending the evening wear dress, dress, evening dress evening dress

3. set of clothes, evening dress, evening dress, evening dress,

4.

3. suit,?business?suit professional suit

4. costume

5. Garment

6. attire deliberately dressed with attire

Previously:

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