# Trouser size or size for trousers?



## kuleshov

What is the most colloquial way of asking for someone's size in trousers?

What trouser size are you?  or What size for trousers are you?


I am familiar with the expression What shoe size are you? but I am not sure we can always follow the same pattern with other pieces of clothing.

Help


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## Nunty

I would say "What size trousers do you wear", but I am an AE speaker.


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## natkretep

I think 'What size trousers do you wear?' is also normal BE. 'What trouser size do you take?' or 'What trouser size are you?' sound fine too. 'What size for trousers are you?' sounds strange.


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## panjandrum

No one would ever ask about trouser size as a topic of conversation, so this question does not arise socially.
The only person who needs to know my trouser size is someone I have approached with the objective of acquiring trousers.  
If only trousers are involved, he asks "What size?"
If trousers and jacket are involved, he might ask "What is your trouser size?" or, more likely, says "Trouser size?" or, possibly, "Waist?"
There are lots of other possibilities, of course.


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## eli7

Nunty said:


> I would say "What size trousers do you wear", but I am an AE speaker.


Why it is not "what size *of* trousers do you wear?" I have heard "of" after the word "size" in most cases.
So based on this thread,  "what color shoes do you wear" is correct, and not "what color of shoes"?


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## Chasint

kuleshov said:


> What is the most colloquial way of asking for someone's size in trousers?
> 
> What trouser size are you?  or What size for trousers are you?
> 
> 
> I am familiar with the expression What shoe size are you? but I am not sure we can always follow the same pattern with other pieces of clothing.
> 
> Help


I don't have the reservations of the others. If someone did have to ask the size of my trousers (for whatever obscure reason) I wouldn't balk at the grammar of "What trouser-size are you?"

Similarly (and more likely) "What collar size are you?"

People who work in a particular trade tend to abbreviate their speech simply because of the endless repetition.


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## Chasint

eli7 said:


> Why it is not "what size *of* trousers do you wear?" I have heard "of" after the word "size" in most cases.
> So based on this thread,  "what color shoes do you wear" is correct, and not "what color of shoes"?


Good question.

I think it's because we would say "My trouser-size is XXX" rather than "My size of trousers is XXX"


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## eli7

Biffo said:


> . If someone did have to ask the size of my trousers
> .


But you just used "My size of trousers"! Then how would you say that you wouldn't use it?!
I mean that maybe it is common in spoken language not in Written. Am I right?
And would you please tell me that is this rule the same for this one...> "what color shoes do you wear?"
So the answer would be My shoes-color is brown?


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## Chasint

eli7 said:


> But you just used "My size of trousers"! Then how would you say that you wouldn't use it?!
> ...


Read carefully! 

I said  "the size of my trousers" not "my size of trousers"


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## eli7

Biffo said:


> Read carefully!
> 
> I said "the size of my trousers" not "my size of trousers"


So is that correct if I say "what is the size of your trouser"?


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## natkretep

Biffo said:


> I think it's because we would say "My trouser-size is XXX" rather than "My size of trousers is XXX"


I think I would say, 'I take size 30 trousers' or 'I take size 7 shoes', so there is a compound construction <size 30> + <trousers>. My typical question reproduces the compound structure. <What size>+<trousers> _do you take?_


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## eli7

natkretep said:


> I think I would say, 'I take size 30 trousers' or 'I take size 7 shoes', so there is a compound construction <size 30> + <trousers>. My typical question reproduces the compound structure. <What size>+<trousers> _do you take?_


Thank you.
Can I say my trousers-size is 30?
or
My trousers-size are 30?


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## Chasint

eli7 said:


> So is that correct if I say "what is the size of your trouser*s*"?


1. I used that phrase to explain the other phrase. I ahd to say it differently.
2. "What is the size of your trouser*l*" is perfectly good English. However I would never say it to anyone because it means "What is the the size of the trousers you are currently wearing?" That seems overly personal and doesn't necessarily help with a fitting.
3. What we are asking for is the person's current (or preferred) _trouser-size._  This is not the size of  any particular size of trousers - it refers to the measurements of the person.


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## Chasint

eli7 said:


> Thank you.
> Can I say my trousers-size is 30?
> or
> My trousers-size are 30?


Almost. 

We say:

"the size of your trousers is 30" and "the size of your shoe*s* is..."  [We are discussing the garment (a pair, so plural noun), but the subject of the sentence is 'size' (singular)]

but 

"your trouser-size is 30" and "your shoe-size is..."  [We are discussing the size (singular noun)]

So, a person has two shoes but only one shoe-size (unless their feet are of different sizes)

Does that explain it?


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## eli7

Thank you.
For more clarification, let me write some options and please tell me which one is grammatically correct:

1- What is the color of your shoes?
2- What color shoes do you wear?
3- what color are your shoes?
4- what are/is your shoes color?


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## natkretep

eli7 said:


> Thank you.
> Can I say my trousers-size is 30?
> or
> My trousers-size are 30?


I think I would say *trouser size* rather than *trousers size* and that's singular, so 'My trouser size is 30.'


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## eli7

natkretep said:


> I think I would say *trouser size* rather than *trousers size* and that's singular, so 'My trouser size is 30.'


Why singular form? Isn't trousers always plural like "pants"? I tjink There is no "pant"(singular) in English.


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## Chasint

eli7 said:


> Thank you.
> For more clarification, let me write some options and please tell me which one is grammatically correct:
> 
> 1- What is the color of your shoes?
> 2- What color shoes do you wear?
> 3- what color are your shoes?
> 4- what are/is your shoes color?


4 is wrong because we are talking about shoe-colour. Usually both shoes are the same colour!

"What is your shoe-colour?"   ['shoe' acts as an adjective describing colour. Compare with _stone-wall_.  Although the wall is made of many stones, we don't call it a _stones-wall_.]


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## eli7

Biffo said:


> 4 is wrong because we are talking about shoe-colour. Usually both shoes are the same colour!


So if I use a singular word (shoe) whould that question be true?
What us your shoe color?


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## eli7

And would you please tell me which answer is correct for the question "what color shoes do you wear?

1- I wear brown shoes.
2- My shoes color are brown.
3- The color is brown.
4- They are brown.


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## Chasint

eli7 said:


> So if I use a singular word (shoe) whould that question be true?
> What is your shoe color?



"What is your shoe-colour?" is correct for one shoe or for a pair of shoes (provided they have the same colour)

This is an example of an adjectival noun.
A noun that functions as an adjective can be called an _adjectival noun in English (e.g. Fowler [1]), but it is nowadays more often called a noun adjunct or attributive noun.
_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjectival_noun_(noun)

Examples

stone-wall ---> a wall made of stone*s*

shoe-size ---> the size of a pair of shoe*s*

trouser-press  ---> a device for pressing trouser*s*

Wow - this is hard to explain!


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## eli7

Thanks a million Biffo. I got it. I know how hard it would be to explain something which is naturally inherent in you to a non-native speaker. I really appreciate your help.
There is still questions I asked in teh previous page that have been left unanswered. Would you or natropad please take a look at them?
Thanks in advance.


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## natkretep

> 1- I wear brown shoes.
> 2- My shoes color are brown.
> 3- The color is brown.
> 4- They are brown.


1, 3 and 4 are fine. Instead of 2, I'd say 'shoe colour is' or possibly 'shoes' colour is'.


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## Chasint

eli7 said:


> And would you please tell me which answer is correct for the question "what color shoes do you wear?
> 
> 1- I wear brown shoes.
> *2- My shoes color are brown.*
> 3- The color is brown.
> 4- They are brown.


I'll say a bit more about 2.


_My shoes color are brown._ 

This has two separate grammatical errors. To see why, I suggest you parse the sentence and say what the function of each word is. I could do it for you but it will be more illuminating if you do it yourself.

In particular you need to identify the subject of the sentence. I don't think you have done that correctly. If you cannot do that you will never be able to understand the explanation.


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## PaulQ

eli7 said:


> Why singular form?


Because "trouser" is acting as an adjective and adjectives do not appear in the plural: "A blue ball, 10 blue balls."


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## eli7

Biffo said:


> I'll say a bit more about 2.
> 
> 
> _My shoes color are brown._
> 
> This has two separate grammatical errors. To see why, I suggest you parse the sentence and say what the function of each word is. I could do it for you but it will be more illuminating if you do it yourself.
> 
> In particular you need to identify the subject of the sentence. I don't think you have done that correctly. If you cannot do that you will never be able to understand the explanation.


I always welcome to challenging situations. 

My shoes color are brown.

"My shoes color" is subject which the prounoun replacement for it could be IT. "are" is verb. and "brown" is object which is adjective.actually.
Oops! then if the subject is "it" then how the verb could be "are"?! Now I'm getting the point I think. Please let me know if I am right.


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## eli7

Biffo said:


> "your trouser-size is 30" and "your shoe-size is..." [We are discussing the size (singular noun)]
> 
> So, a person has two shoes but only one shoe-size (unless their feet are of different sizes)
> 
> Does that explain it?


Yeah, very helpful. Thank you. What about pants? Is this rule the same with the word "pants" which I know is never used in singular form?
My pant size is 30.
And is the hyphen a must to be used or not?(pant-size), because I see that natkretep has not written it in post 16.


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## Chasint

eli7 said:


> I always welcome to challenging situations.
> 
> My shoes color are brown.
> 
> "My shoes color" is subject which the prounoun replacement for it could be IT. "are" is verb. and "brown" is object which is adjective.actually.
> Oops! then if the subject is "it" then how the verb could be "are"?! Now I'm getting the point I think. Please let me know if I am right.


The subject of the sentence is "*colour*" which is singular, e.g.

The *colour* *is*  brown.
The *colour *(of my shoes) *is* brown.
The *colour* (of my hair)* is* brown.
My favourite shoe *colour is *brown.
The *colour *of my trousers *is* brown.
It doesn't matter what words you add to the above sentences; 'colour' is always the subject and the verb is singular. Of course if you want to talk about lots of colours then you would change to plural. However all of the above sentences are discussing a single colour (which in this particular case happens to be brown).


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## Chasint

eli7 said:


> Yeah, very helpful. Thank you. What about pants? Is this rule the same with the word "pants" which I know is never used in singular form?
> My pant size is 30.
> And is the hyphen a must to be used or not?(pant-size), because I see that natkretep has not written it in post 16.


It can be confusing to talk about 'pants' because the word has different meanings in AE and BE.

In BE, 'pants' means 'underpants'. You could say "The colour of my pants is white" but that has nothing to do with 'pants' being plural because 'pants' is *not* the subject of the sentence.  The subject of the sentence is 'colour' which is singular.


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## RM1(SS)

eli7 said:


> Yeah, very helpful. Thank you. What about pants? Is this rule the same with the word "pants" which I know is never used in singular form?
> My pant size is 30.



That's how I would say it.


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## JustKate

Yes, that's correct. In fact it's correct for everything that means "piece of clothing that encases your legs in tubes of cloth": trousers, jodhpurs, jeans, pants, slacks, pantaloons, overalls, coveralls - everything. All of them are plural in the noun form but singular when used as modifiers (not that this is likely to come up very often for pantaloons or jodhpurs  ).


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## eli7

Thank you very much every body. It's all clear now. Just a question: when these nouns are used as adjectives of a noun phrase like "pant color, or trouser size" should them be used with hyphen?
I mean which one is correct:
My pant-size
or
My pant size


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## Chasint

eli7 said:


> Thank you very much every body. It's all clear now. Just a question: when these nouns are used as adjectives of a noun phrase like "pant color, or trouser size" should them be used with hyphen?
> I mean which one is correct:
> My pant-size
> or
> My pant size


My preference is for shoe-size etc. with a hyphen. I think it is a matter of style rather than a strict rule.


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## eli7

Thanks a million. All's clear now


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## natkretep

Biffo said:


> My preference is for shoe-size etc. with a hyphen. I think it is a matter of style rather than a strict rule.


Yes. I suspect it is more common to spell it as two words though.


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## JustKate

I wouldn't use a hyphen, and I would guess that writing it without a hyphen is probably more common. But as Biffo and Natkretep have said, this is purely a matter of style. There really aren't many "rules" when it comes to hyphens.


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## eli7

natkretep said:


> I think I would say, 'I take size 30 trousers' or 'I take size 7 shoes', so there is a compound construction <size 30> + <trousers>. My typical question reproduces the compound structure. <What size>+<trousers> _do you take?_


Instead of "I have size 49 shoes", based on the structure of this sentence:" I have two blouses in red", can I say "*I have shoes in 49 size"?*


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## RM1(SS)

eli7 said:


> Instead of "I have size 49 shoes", based on the structure of this sentence:" I have two blouses in red", can I say "*I have shoes in 49 size"?*



"Shoes in size 49."


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## PaulQ

As RM1(SS) says, it is "size 49" and you would use, "*I have shoes in **size** 49." *if you were selling shoes:

A: "I like these shoes, do you have them in size 48?"
B: "Hmmm... I have those shoes in size 49, not 48."

If someone asks you what size shoes you take, the reply is "49" or "I take size 49."


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## eli7

Thanks a million Paul and RM1 
What about this one: I take shoe size of 49?


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## Chasint

eli7 said:


> Thanks a million Paul and RM1
> What about this one: I take shoe size of 49?


Following on from PaulQ's last line in #39, I would say "I take size 49" or  "I take shoe size 49" or "I take shoe-size 49"


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## eli7

Thank you


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## sibu

<Added to this thread. Nat, Moderator>

Which is better English? "What size pants/trousers are you?" or "What pant/trouser size are you?" Or are they both common?


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## Barque

The first doesn't sound very natural to me. The second sounds better. 

I suggest:
_What size pants/trousers do you wear? 
What's your pant/trouser size?
_
You could also ask: _What size are you? _if the context made it clear what you were referring to.


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## EdisonBhola

Barque said:


> The first doesn't sound very natural to me. The second sounds better.
> 
> I suggest:
> _What size pants/trousers do you wear?
> What's your pant/trouser size?
> _
> You could also ask: _What size are you? _if the context made it clear what you were referring to.



Can I say what size of pants do you wear?


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## Barque

I wouldn't use "of" in that sentence.


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## Ivan_I

“What size pants are you wearing these days?" can be seen in the google search results.


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