English vocabulary to help you shop 'til you drop.
Types of shops in English
department store – a shop that sells many different items in different departments. Harrods is probably the world's best known department store.
supermarket – a large shop that sells mostly food and household items.
grocer (UK) / grocery store (US) – a shop that sells food.
greengrocer – sells fresh fruit and vegetables.
butcher - sells fresh meat.
baker – sells fresh bread and cakes.
fishmonger – sells fresh fish.
chemist (UK) / drugstore (US) – sells medicines and toiletries.
pharmacy (US) – sells medicines.
newsagent - sells newspapers and magazines.
stationer – sells paper goods.
optician – sells glasses / contact lenses.
DIY store – sells things for home improvement.
hardware shop / hardware store / ironmonger – hard goods, such as nails and screws.
corner shop (UK) – a shop on the corner of your street, selling a range of basic goods – food, newspapers, sweets, bread, etc.
delicatessen (deli) – sells specialist food not normally found in supermarkets. For example, an Italian deli, an Asian deli.
bookshop / bookstore – books.
market – market traders (people who work on a market) have stalls that sell fruit and vegetables, clothes, household items and so on.
petshop - for pets and pet food.
flea market – a group of stalls selling old furniture or clothes.
tea shop (UK) – like a cafe, but sells tea and cakes.
petrol station (UK) / gas station (US) sells petrol, car products and sometimes food.
Using 's
When we talk about shops, we often put an 's on the end. For example, "I'm going to the chemist's / greengrocer's / butcher's / baker's / newsagent's / fishmonger's/ optician's."
We don't use an 's with these shops: supermarket, hardware store, petrol station, department store.
Asking for things
"Do you have any…?"
"I'm looking for…"
"I wonder if you could help me…?"
What the shopkeeper says
"I'm sorry, we're out of stock."
"I'm sorry, that's the last one."
"I'm sorry, that's all we have left."
What a sales person says
"Can I help you?"
"Are you looking for anything in particular?"
Your reply
"I'm just looking, thank you."
"I'm just browsing, thank you."
Asking about things
"Do you have this in another size?"
"Do you have this in another colour?"
"Is this made of leather / silk / plastic…?"
"Does this come with a guarantee?"
"Is this fully refundable?"
"Can I bring this back if it's not the right size?"
"Can I bring this back if it doesn't fit?"
Paying – what the shopkeeper says
"Do you have anything smaller?" (If you pay with a large denomination note.)
Paying – what you say
"I'm sorry, I don't have any small change."
"I don't have anything smaller."
"Would you have change for this?"
"Can I have the receipt, please?'
"Can I pay by credit card?"
"Can I pay in cash?"
"Is this on sale?"
22 comments on “Shopping vocabulary”
useful phrases.
thanks
Very useful, thanks
thank u. It will be very useful for me
i appreciate your work very much.
Very helpful phrases. Thanks !!!
how can i make a request at petrol station for petrol for my car?
Can you fill it up, please?
it is very useful for me.thank you
is there any differences between pay with cash and pay in cash?
sherry ยป "Pay in cash" rather than "pay with cash" sounds more correct to me.
i am practicing my english and these phrases helped me a lot. thank you .
Thanks for the pharses. Very helpful.
"Window shopping"
How can I use it in a sentence. Please give me examples.
Do you buy something every week?
No, sometimes I just like going window shopping.
Are a), b) and d) correct answers:
Where did you get this bread? -At your ___.
a) baker
b) bakers'
c) baker's'
d) bakers
Can you explain why/ why not?
I know it is not c) baker's'.
I'd say:
At the baker's.
We often put 's at the end of the shop name:
at the chemist's, at the butcher's, at the greengrocer's etc.
I'd say "At the baker's." too. I know the possessive rules. But it was on the multiple choice test !!!???
I looked up in the dictionaries and found:
A baker or a baker's is a shop where bread and cakes are sold.
Does it imply that a), b) and d) are all correct answers?
Either a (though it should be "at the baker" and not "at your baker) or c without the final apostrophe.
I read in some books "he resumed his job at the bakers", etc. but I never read > bakers'< except in the dictionaries. By the way, the key answer was b), and I am trying to prove that if, according to my teacher, b) is correct then a) and d) are correct too.
Hi Augie, greetings from Venezuela!!
Regarding your question from March 17, I would like to comment that neither the question nor any of the answer options are right: The question is wrong because the bakery or the baker's is hardly referred to as "your" bakery except, perhaps, in an advertisement. a) refers to the person who runs the bakery; b) refers to the possessive of the plural of baker; c) is totally extraterrestrial and should not even be considered; and d) refers to the plural of baker, as in a)
A baker is a person who bakes bread, among other things, and not a place. The place is called a bakery or the baker's. Hope this helps…
WoW , i love shopping it's one of my hobbies and these vocabulary help me a lots actually thank u very mush !
if i get pant in a shop "will it be fit for me?"
or i must use "could"?please make this sentence in a perfect way?& two lines conversation too…
"Could I try these on to make sure they fit?"
