衣服

衣服 (yīfu) is the everyday Mandarin word for 'clothes' or 'clothing' — the general term covering shirts, pants, dresses, jackets, anything you wear. The second character 服 is toneless, so it sounds like 'YEE-fu.' Two things differ from English: first, the measure word for clothing is 件 (jiàn), not 个 — 一件衣服 ('one piece of clothing'), 两件衣服 ('two items'); second, 衣服 is uncountable in feel like English 'clothing,' but Chinese uses 件 to count discrete pieces (something English has to express awkwardly as 'an item of clothing').

For a full outfit, the measure word is 套 (tào). To say 'wear clothes,' use 穿衣服 (chuān yīfu); to wash them, 洗衣服 (xǐ yīfu). For specific garments use 衬衫