Trying on a shirt | Learn French in English

Sentence explanations

1. J'ai besoin d'une nouvelle chemise.

   I need a new shirt.

   J'ai besoin

   I need

   nouvelle

   new

   chemise

   shirt

   More detail

   J'ai besoin is part of the useful expression avoir besoin de, meaning “to need.” J'ai is je + ai, the present-tense form of avoir for “I”; the apostrophe marks the elision of je before a vowel. The expression is followed by de and the thing needed. Example: J'ai besoin d'eau. — “I need water.” nouvelle means “new” here. It is the feminine singular form of the adjective nouveau, agreeing with the feminine singular noun chemise. The useful forms are nouveau with a masculine singular noun, nouvel before a masculine singular noun beginning with a vowel sound, and nouvelle with a feminine singular noun. Example: une nouvelle veste — “a new jacket.” chemise means “shirt.” It is a feminine noun, which is why the phrase has the feminine singular article une. Its plural is chemises; des chemises means “shirts.” Together, avoir besoin de expresses needing something, and une nouvelle chemise means “a new shirt.” In the full sentence, de is followed by une; the vowel of de is elided, giving d'une: J'ai besoin d'une nouvelle chemise. — “I need a new shirt.”

2. Quelle couleur cherchez-vous ?

   What color are you looking for?

   Quelle

   what/which

   couleur

   color

   cherchez-vous

   are you looking for

   More detail

   Quelle is the interrogative form used before a feminine singular noun here: it means “what/which” in Quelle couleur. The related forms are quel (masculine singular), quels (masculine plural), and quelles (feminine plural). The form agrees with couleur, not with the person being addressed. Example: Quel livre choisissez-vous ? — “Which book are you choosing?” couleur means “color.” It is a feminine noun, so the matching form is quelle, as in quelle couleur. Example: J'aime cette couleur. — “I like this color.” cherchez-vous contains the verb chercher, “to look for” or “to seek,” in the present tense, with vous as the subject. Cherchez is the form used with vous; -vous is placed after the verb to form this formal or plural question by inversion. In this sentence, chercher means trying to find something, not merely looking at it. Example: Que cherchez-vous ? — “What are you looking for?” Together, Quelle couleur asks for the color being sought, and cherchez-vous asks this of one person formally or of more than one person. The complete utterance means: “What color are you looking for?”

3. Quelque chose de bleu, si vous en avez.

   Something blue, if you have it.

   Quelque chose

   something

   bleu

   blue

   si vous en avez

   if you have it

   More detail

   Quelque chose means “something.” It is an indefinite pronoun for an unspecified thing, unlike quelqu’un, which refers to an unspecified person. Here it names the unspecified item being requested. bleu means “blue.” French uses the reusable pattern quelque chose de + adjective: quelque chose de bleu means “something blue.” In this construction, bleu is masculine singular; it is not agreeing directly with the feminine noun chose. With a noun modified directly, the form can agree with that noun: une chemise bleue means “a blue shirt.” si vous en avez means “if you have it” here. avez is the present-tense form of avoir with vous: vous avez means “you have.” In this sentence, en refers back to the requested blue item, so French does not repeat that noun. The pattern si + present tense can express a real or possible condition. Example: Si vous en avez, dites-le-moi — “If you have it, tell me.” Together, Quelque chose de bleu means “something blue,” and si vous en avez adds “if you have it.” The whole utterance is a concise request for a blue item, conditional on the listener having one. It is a fragment rather than a complete clause with an explicit request verb, which fits this exchange.

4. Voici une chemise à votre taille.

   Here is one in your size.

   Voici

   here is

   chemise

   shirt

   à votre taille

   in your size

   More detail

   Voici is a presentative expression used to point something out or introduce it. In this sentence, it means “here is,” introducing the item being offered or shown. A related expression is voilà, often meaning “there is/there are” or “there you have it,” though the choice depends on the speaker’s presentation of the item. chemise means “shirt,” specifically a shirt as a noun. It is feminine: une chemise means “a shirt.” The plural is des chemises; the final -s is normally not pronounced. Example: J’achète une chemise. — “I am buying a shirt.” à votre taille is a reusable way to say “in your size” or “of a size that fits you.” Here, à links the item to the relevant size, and votre is the possessive determiner for one person addressed formally or for several people; it does not itself state a numeric quantity. Votre has the same form before a singular masculine or feminine noun, while vos is used before plural nouns: votre taille but vos vêtements. Example: Cette veste est à votre taille. — “This jacket is in your size.” Together, Voici presents une chemise, and à votre taille specifies that the shirt is in the addressee’s size. The complete meaning is: “Here is one in your size.” The translation uses “one” because the shirt is understood as an item being offered; French states the noun chemise directly here.

5. Je peux l'essayer ?

   Can I try it on?

   Je peux

   I can

   essayer

   try

   More detail

   Je peux uses je, “I,” with the first-person singular present form peux of pouvoir (“can/be able to”). In a question, the same form can express permission: Je peux… ? means “Can I…?” or “May I…?” here, without changing the verb form. essayer is the infinitive “to try.” After pouvoir, the following verb stays in the infinitive: Je peux essayer… = “I can try…”. With clothing as the object, essayer can mean “try on”; in this utterance, l' refers to the item being considered in the shop context. l' is the elided form of the direct-object pronoun le or la before a vowel sound; its form does not identify the item's grammatical gender here. Together, Je peux + l' + essayer forms a permission question: “Can I try it on?” The question is concise and natural in a clothing-shopping situation.

6. La cabine d'essayage est juste ici.

   The changing room is just over here.

   cabine d'essayage

   changing room

   est

   is

   juste ici

   just over here

   More detail

   cabine d'essayage means “changing room” here. Cabine is a feminine singular noun meaning a small booth or cabin. d'essayage specifies its purpose: essayage is the noun related to essayer, “to try on”; French uses de to link a place or object with its purpose. Example: Je cherche une cabine d'essayage. — “I’m looking for a changing room.” est is the third-person singular present form of être, “to be.” The base form is être; the present chain includes je suis, tu es, and il/elle est. Here, est agrees with the singular noun phrase La cabine d'essayage. Example: La porte est ouverte. — “The door is open.” juste ici means “just over here.” Ici locates something near the speaker; là generally points to a place farther away or otherwise identified as “there.” Juste narrows the location, giving the sense “right/just here.” Example: Le magasin est juste ici. — “The shop is just over here.” Together, La cabine d'essayage is the subject, est says where it is, and juste ici gives its location: “The changing room is just over here.”

7. Elle me va très bien.

   It fits really well.

   Elle

   it

   me va

   fits me / suits me

   très bien

   very well

   More detail

   Elle is the feminine singular subject pronoun. Here it refers to the item being discussed, but the supplied sentence does not identify that item more specifically. The pronoun agrees with that referent’s grammatical gender and number; it does not itself mean “the item.” Compare il for a masculine singular subject and elles for feminine plural subjects. me va uses the third-person singular present form va of aller (base form aller) with me, meaning “to me.” In the pattern quelque chose va à quelqu’un, aller can mean that something fits or suits someone, rather than physical movement. The subject is elle, so the verb is singular: elle va; me marks the person affected. With another person, the pronoun changes: Elle vous va bien means “It looks good on you” or “It suits you.” très bien intensifies the manner or degree: très means “very,” and bien means “well.” Together they describe how well the item fits. Très comes before the word it intensifies, as in très bien. Together, Elle me va très bien means “It fits me really well.” The structure is: feminine singular subject + aller in the third-person singular + the person it fits + degree: Elle + me va + très bien. In this context, the sentence evaluates the fit of the understood item for the speaker.

8. Elle vous va bien.

   It looks nice on you.

   Elle

   it

   vous

   you

   va

   suits; looks good on

   bien

   well; nicely

   More detail

   Elle is the feminine singular subject pronoun. Here it refers to the item being evaluated and is translated as “it”; the sentence itself does not identify what that item is. The same form can mean “she” when its referent is a person. vous is the form for the person the item suits. It can address one person formally or more than one person; the English translation “you” does not distinguish those possibilities. In this pattern, the person is expressed with an indirect object pronoun: me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur. va is the third-person singular present form of aller (“to go”). In the construction aller à quelqu’un, an item “goes to” someone in the sense of fitting or suiting that person. Thus elle vous va means “it suits you,” not “it goes you.” Compare the forms je vais, tu vas, il/elle va. bien is an adverb meaning “well” here. With aller in this construction, it expresses that the item suits the person attractively or satisfactorily. Example: Cette couleur me va bien. — “This color suits me well.” Together, Elle vous va bien has the pattern [item] [person it suits] va bien: “It looks nice on you.” The feminine subject pronoun identifies the item grammatically, vous identifies the person for whom it looks good, and bien positively evaluates the result.