article of clothing vs clothing/clothes

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flyingHorse
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article of clothing vs clothing/clothes

Postby flyingHorse » 2018-09-12, 11:55

Hey all,

In English, is there any difference between "article of clothing " and "clothing" or are the two just synonymous words?

Thanks.

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linguoboy
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Re: article of clothing vs clothing/clothes

Postby linguoboy » 2018-09-12, 12:55

I don't understand the question.

"Clothing" is a mass noun. That means that it refers to an undifferentiated mass of objects and cannot be pluralised. To refer to clothing in the singular, you need to add a count noun like "piece" or "article".

Are you asking if "clothing" and "clothes" are synonyms?
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

flyingHorse
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Re: article of clothing vs clothing/clothes

Postby flyingHorse » 2018-09-12, 18:44

You actually did answer my question.

the word "Clothing" is plural. the words "article of clothing is singular.

Thank you.


Are you asking if "clothing" and "clothes" are synonyms? I didn't. but I assume they are because both of them are plural.
Am I correct?

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linguoboy
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Re: article of clothing vs clothing/clothes

Postby linguoboy » 2018-09-12, 19:29

flyingHorse wrote:You actually did answer my question.

the word "Clothing" is plural. the words "article of clothing is singular.

But you can pluralise the latter to "articles of clothing" and it doesn't have quite the same meaning as "clothing". It emphasises the individuality of the particular items. (E.g. "10 Articles of Clothing that are MUST HAVES in My 2018 Wardrobe.")

flyingHorse wrote:Are you asking if "clothing" and "clothes" are synonyms? I didn't. but I assume they are because both of them are plural.
Am I correct?

In some contexts, they are. But no two words in English are perfect synonyms and there are some instances where it's only idiomatic to use one and not the other.

In general, I would say "clothing" sounds a bit more formal than "clothes". E.g. "Take off your clothes" vs "Please remove all articles of clothing."
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons


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