Level 3 · Lesson 5

一件衣服
An item of clothing

一件衣服，一条裤子，一双鞋，一顶帽子。

件 for clothing worn on the body, and 双 for anything that comes in a pair.

听 · Listen

我去商店
 安娜 —  李明，今天我去商店。 
Li Ming, I'm going to the shops today.  
 李明 —  你买什么？ 
What are you buying?  
 安娜 —  我买一件衣服，一条裤子。 
I'm buying a top and a pair of trousers.  
 李明 —  鞋呢？ 
And shoes?  
 安娜 —  一双鞋，一顶帽子。 
A pair of shoes and a hat.  
 李明 —  一件、一条、一双、一顶——不错！ 
件, 条, 双, 顶 — very good!  
 安娜 —  我妹妹也去商店。 
My little sister is coming to the shops too.  
 李明 —  好！我也去。 
Great — I'll come too.  

讲解 · Explanation

一件衣服，三件衣服。

件 counts clothing worn on the upper body — shirts, coats, jackets — and 衣服 itself, which is the general word for clothes. It also counts things you cannot touch at all: 一件事 one matter, one piece of business. Because 件 falls, 一 rises in front of it: yí jiàn.

一条裤子，一双鞋。

Trousers are long and bendable, so they take 条, the same measure word as 一条鱼 — 一条裤子 is one pair of trousers, not one trouser leg. Shoes come two at a time, so they take 双, the measure word for anything naturally paired: 一双鞋 a pair of shoes. And a hat has its own word again, 顶: 一顶帽子.

一件衣服，一条裤子，一双鞋，一顶帽子。

Four garments, four different measure words — this is the clearest proof that the measure word belongs to the noun and cannot be guessed from the category. Say the four phrases as one string until they run together; that rhythm is how a Chinese speaker stores them. Watch 一 as you go: yí before the falling 件, yì before the others.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
件	measure word for clothing and for matters	一件衣服 yí jiàn yīfu, 一件事 yí jiàn shì
衣服	clothes, clothing	一件衣服 yí jiàn yīfu
裤子	trousers	一条裤子 yì tiáo kùzi
鞋	shoe	一双鞋 yì shuāng xié — 双 counts pairs
帽子	hat, cap	一顶帽子 yì dǐng màozi

练习 · Practice

那是一 ______ 裤子。 Trousers are long and bendable. Which one?

安娜买三 ______ 鞋。 Shoes come two at a time. Which one?

这是一 ______ 帽子。 Fill in the measure word that hats take.

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'I'm buying one item of clothing.'

用一用 · Use it

今天我买一件衣服，一条裤子，一双鞋。

Open your wardrobe and count what is in it out loud, garment by garment, always with the right measure word. Then say what you would buy today if you went shopping — three items, three measure words, one sentence. If a garment defeats you, fall back on 个 and keep talking; fluency first, precision on the second pass.