English for Catholics of Other Languages

Shopping

Vocabulary and phrases

Every ....              week/day/month/year [present continuous] I go shopping ... We don't go shopping ... We need ... - We don't need ...                to buy [some/a/3]...                to go                to go shopping                some [money] We buy ... - we don't buy ... We drink ... - we don't drink ... We will ... [future]                 buy/go/live/work on ...        Tuesday morning        Wednesday afternoon        Thursday evening        Friday night some ... [uncountables]             bread/cheese/milk a ... [countables]        banana/chicken/cake an ... [countables]          apple/orange/onion some more ... [bread/bananas] frozen ... [meat/vegetables/meal] Uncountables a loaf of bread - 2 loaves of bread a bottle of water - 2 bottles of water a bar of soap - 2 bars of soap a packet of biscuits - 2 packets ... a bag of sugar - 2 bags of sugar a box of chocolates - 2 boxes ... a tub of margarine - 2 tubs ... a tube of toothpaste - 2 tubes ... 100g = one hundred grammes 1kg = one kilogram 1l = one litre 200ml = two hundred mililitres 1 gallon of unleaded petrol/diesel/LPG there isn't any left = zero/none fortnight = 2 weeks large - small last week - this week - next week

Every week we go shopping on Thursday evening.  We need to buy some bread and milk because there isn't any left.  We usually buy 3 loaves of bread and 2 bottles of milk.  We buy a bar of chocolate each and a packet of crisps.  We don't need to buy rice, sugar and pasta every week.  We usually buy one bag of sugar every fortnight and a large bag of rice and pasta every month.  We drink a lot of tea, so we need to buy a box of tea this week and we need some more biscuits.  We will buy two packets of biscuits.  This week I also need to buy 200g of cheese and a frozen chicken for Sunday. For more shopping vocabulary try this game.

What are your local shops?       Baker's, Chemist, Newsagent                                              Cornershop, Clothes shop ... What time does the shop open? The shops opens at ....o'clock. What time does the shop close? The shop closes at ....o'clock. What time do you open?           We open at ....o'clock. What time do you close [for lunch] We close at .... o'clock. Where can I buy ....?                You can buy it at .... Where is the ..[cheapest] place to buy ...? Where can I find good quality ...? Where's the nearest cash machine?  It's ... [over there/next to                                                               opposite]... For more about clothes, try this game.

Useful links Argos  - good for vocabulary and descriptions Catholic products Clothes - fashion BBC - learn in your language British Council

More on Shopping coming soon