衣服
clothes; clothing
HSK level
- Pinyin
- yīfu
- Part of speech
- noun
- Level
- HSK 1
- Strokes
- 14
- Register
- neutral
- Measure word
- 件 / 套
- In episodes
- 2
Stroke order for 衣服
衣服 is written with 14 strokes (衣: 6, 服: 8). The animation replays automatically.
What does 衣服 mean?
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 (shirt), 裤子 (pants), 裙子 (skirt), 外套 (jacket).
Character by character
Memory hook: 衣 is one of the original pictographs for a robe — top opening, sleeves, hem. 衣服 = the robe + wearing it = clothing in general.
Hear 衣服 in real episodes
衣服 appears in 2 Fluentide podcast episodes at natural native speed — each with the full Chinese script, pinyin, and line-by-line English translation.
Example sentences
这件衣服很漂亮。
Zhè jiàn yīfu hěn piàoliang.
This piece of clothing is very pretty.
neutral
我想买新衣服。
Wǒ xiǎng mǎi xīn yīfu.
I want to buy new clothes.
spoken
妈妈在洗衣服。
Māma zài xǐ yīfu.
Mom is doing laundry.
spoken
今天的衣服很好看。
Jīntiān de yīfu hěn hǎokàn.
Today's outfit looks great.
spoken
Common phrases with 衣服
Synonyms
服装 is the formal / written word for 'clothing / apparel.' Used in business contexts (服装店 'clothing store') and on signs. 衣服 is what you say in daily speech.
衣裳 is a slightly older / more literary term for clothes, common in songs and northern dialect. 衣服 is the modern standard.
Don't confuse 衣服 with
衣柜 means 'wardrobe / closet' — the furniture, not the clothes inside. Shares the 衣 character but refers to where clothes are stored.
服务 means 'service' (服务员 'waiter/service staff'). Shares 服 but in a completely different sense ('to serve' rather than 'to wear').
FAQ
Related words from the same episodes
Acquire it by listening
Meet 衣服 again — in real Chinese, at your level.
You just saw 衣服 in 2 episodes. Fluentide keeps feeding you news episodes at your level, so this word — and thousands like it — resurface in real sentences until they stick. Full pinyin and translation every time. Free to start.