This week, we’re going to look at language to use when shopping for clothing, specifically men’s clothing. After you listen to the podcast, make sure you check out the BYKI list. Click the link below to hear the podcast.

Clothing Podcast

Estou procurando uma camisa polo e calças cáqui.
A marca não importa, mas quero uma camisa azul ou cinza.
Tem esta camisa em um tamanho maior?
As calças me ficaram muito bem.
Gostaria de uma bermuda simples, tamanho 36.
Aqui vende meias brancas? Preciso de umas novas.
Não gostei muito da camisa. Vou levar somente as calças e a bermuda.

In clothing stores in Brazil, employees tend to be very attentive, so it helps if you let them know exactly what you want. Here, the speaker says, “I’m looking for a polo shirt and khaki pants.” Procurar means to look for. Note that pants can be calças (plural) or calça (singular). Also, note that khaki sounds almost the same, but with a different spelling.

This means, “The brand doesn’t matter, but I want a blue or grey shirt.” Marca means brand, or clothing label, and here we use the verb importar (to matter) in the present tense to describe a lack of preference. Note that cinza is the word for grey.

Here, the speaker asks, “Do you have this shirt in a bigger size?” We could also translate this as, “Does this shirt come in a bigger size?” Note that maior is larger, or bigger, and menor is smaller.

This means, “The pants fit me very well.” Ficar mean to fit, so to say “they fit me,” we say me ficaram.

Bermuda means men’s shorts, which also include bathing suit shorts, like board shorts. To make a polite request, it’s best to use gostar (to like) in the conditional tense: I would like. Here, the speaker says, “I would like plain shorts, size 36.” Simples means plain or simple, and tamanho means size. Note that in Brazil, they mostly use European sizes.

This means, “Do you sell white socks here? I need some new ones.” Socks are meias. Note that precisar means to need, accompanied by de before the noun.

Finally, the speaker says, “I don’t really like the shirt. I’m just going to take the pants and the shorts.” Não gostar muito means to not like very much, or to not really like, and is a nicer way of giving negative feedback. Note that in Portuguese, we used gostar in the simple past tense, but in the English translatiion, we put it in the simple present tense. Somente means only, which is the same thing as só. Levar means to take.

Stay tuned for next month’s podcast!