Look at this sentence:
- It is a shirt.
Describe the shirt. What colour is the shirt? (Green)
- It is a green shirt.
Green is the word that describes the shirt.
Green is an adjective.
An adjective describes something.
In English the order is adjective + noun.
A noun is the name of something, in this case the name of an item of clothing.
Adjectives + Clothes
Let’s look at more basic adjectives with clothes.
- This is a green coat.
- This is blue coat.
Green and blue are adjectives. They give more information about the coats, they describe the coats.
- This is a white T-shirt
- This is a purple T-shirt
White and Purple are adjectives.
You can describe clothes with MORE than just colors.
We can use other adjectives. For example…
- They are small shoes.
- They are smelly shoes.
Look at these:
- They are tight trousers.
- They are tight pants.
Trousers is used in British English and pants are used in American English.
- They are loose trousers.
- They are loose pants.
Tight is the opposite of loose.
Tight and loose are adjectives.
We have adjectives + clothes. Now we need to make complete sentences.
We do this with: To be + wearing + clothes
To be + wearing + clothes
- I am wearing a black suit.
- He is wearing a blue shirt and brown pants… or brown trousers.
- She is wearing a yellow shirt, an orange skirt and pink socks.
You also change the subject pronoun (he, she) with the name of the person or the subject.
- Jack is wearing a blue shirt.
- Mary is wearing an orange skirt.
- My father is wearing a black suit.
Questions: What are you wearing?
The question to ask what someone is wearing can be:
- What is he wearing?
- What is she wearing?
This is how I ask what another person is wearing.
And the answer would begin with… He is wearing… and She is wearing…
You can also include other forms of To Be such as:
- What are they wearing? They are wearing…
Look at this question:
- What are you wearing?
If someone asks you this, they are interested in YOU and YOUR clothes, so you can answer:
- I am wearing… and then the clothes.
Answer these questions according to the picture above:
What am I wearing?
You are wearing an orange shirt, green trousers or green pants, and brown shoes.
What are you wearing?
I’m wearing a light blue shirt, a purple suit, a yellow tie, and brown shoes.
What is she wearing?
She is wearing an orange shirt, a pink dress, pink socks, and black shoes.
What is he wearing?
He is wearing a brown hat, a yellow scarf, a green hoodie, dark blue sweatpants, and red sneakers or red trainers.
What is your mother wearing?
She is wearing earrings, a bracelet, a yellow T-shirt that says No. 1 mom, a blue skirt, and dark blue shoes.
What is John wearing?
He is wearing a brown hat, it’s a brown cowboy hat, a red scarf, a green shirt, blue jeans, brown boots and a brown belt with a gold buckle. That metal thing is called a buckle.
What are you wearing right now?
For a more complete list with additional items of clothing and things you wear (with a written definition of each one), visit our article on our English vocabulary website: Clothes and Accessories in English.