Shopping for Clothes – English lesson

In this English lesson, Niharika is going to tell you about different kinds of shops and different expressions you could use when you are shopping.

Types of Shops

• Shopping center/mall: is a large building full of different shops and brands.
• Boutique: is a small shop and is usually expensive because they are designer labelled clothes
• Chain store: is a retail store that has that have different branches. Example: Zara
• Factory outlet: Clothes directly come from the factory and are not very expensive. They are mostly on a trial basis.
• Department store: is a large huge store where you get a lot of things, like grocery, clothes, accessories, kitchen utensils etc.

Questions you would ask a sales person:

• I’m looking for a blue shirt: Use this expression when you are searching for something specific and you are not able to find it.
• Do you have this in medium size:  If you need a different size, ask the sales person for the particular size you want
• Can you tell me where the trial room is?: A trial room is also known as a changing room/fitting room/dressing room. If you want to try the garment, ask the sales person to direct you to the trial room.
• Do you have alteration services: If it doesn’t fit perfectly, you can ask if they could alter it for a better fit.
• How much is the shirt for? Is it on sale? : Now that you liked the shirt, you would want to know its price. You can ask if it is on sale.
• Will you be having a sale soon?: Ask this question if you would like to wait for the sale to take place
• When will you start selling your new collection: There are different collections like summer collection, winter collection etc. So when you look forward to the next collection, ask this question.