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A green shirt and khaki trousers.

How to say 'I wear' in Mandarin

When talking about what you wear in Mandarin, there are two phrases that can be used:

  • Wǒ chuān - I am wearing, for clothes

  • Wǒ dài - I am wearing, for accessories

A green shirt and khaki trousers.

Clothes in Mandarin

MandarinPinyinEnglish
máo yījumper
dà yīcoat
duǎn qúnskirt
kù zitrousers
虫í别shoes
wà zisocks
chèn shānshirt
An orange jumper.

Did you know?

To say ‘I wear a jumper’ you would not simply say Wǒ chuān zhe máo yī - you have missed out the Mandarin equivalent of ‘a’.

In Mandarin, measure words (often called ‘classifiers’) are used to classify the type of object being discussed.

Measure wordUse
yí jiànFor sleeved clothing, eg coats, shirts, and jumpers
yì tiáoFor narrow and long clothes, eg skirts and trousers
yì shuāngFor pairs, eg shoes and socks

So, to say ‘I wear a jumper’ in Mandarin, you would say Wǒ chuān zhe yī jiàn máo yī.

Accessories in Mandarin

MandarinPinyinEnglish
mào zihat
wéi jīnscarf
yǎn jìngglasses
xiàng liànnecklace

Did you know?

As with clothing, measure words are used for accessories.

Some are the same as for clothing, but there are additional ones too.

Measure wordUse
yì dǐngFor hats
yí fùFor glasses
yì tiáoFor narrow and long accessories, eg scarfs and necklaces
A pair of sunglasses.

As with clothing, to say ‘I wear glasses’ you would need to include the measure word for 'a pair of':

Wǒ dài zhe yí fù yǎn jìng - I wear [a pair of] glasses

A pair of sunglasses.
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