Cloth vs. Clothes – How to Use Each Correctly
What is the Difference Between Cloth and Clothes?
Contents
Cloth and clothes look similar, and the words are slightly related. However, they have different pronunciations and definitions. Therefore, you must be careful not to mix the two of them up.
Cloth is a noun that means a piece of fabric.
- He used a clean cloth to wipe the food off of his baby’s face.
Clothes is a noun that always keeps its plural form. It refers to things people wear including shirts, pants, and other garments.
- I need to buy some new clothes for the upcoming school year.
Now, let’s go over the specific ways each of these words are used.
Using Cloth in a Sentence
When to use cloth: Cloth is a singular noun that means fabric. It can also act as an adjective to describe the material of an object. The plural form is spelled cloths.
For example,
- We prefer to use cloth diapers for our infant because they are better for the environment. (adjective)
- The doctor needs fresh cloths to dress her patient’s wounds.
The expression a man of the cloth means a member of the clergy.
Using Clothes in a Sentence
When to use Clothes: Clothes is a plural noun that refers to the things that people wear. The equivalent noun in singular form would be clothing.
For example:
- Nudists prefer to not wear any clothes.
- The fashionista always has on very trendy clothes.
There are a couple of idioms that use the word clothes:
- the emperor’s new clothes: something people praise only because they don’t want to be the only one, or the first one, to criticize it (to be afraid to go against popular opinion)
- Sarah is pretty and popular so everyone says that hew new haircut is cute. However, it’s obviously ugly. No one wants to say so because it’s a case of the emperor’s new clothes.
- clothes make the man: the things a person wears affect his position in business and in life
- Wear a nice suit to your job interview. Clothes make the man!
The verb form of clothes is clothe, which means to put clothes on.
Remembering Cloth vs. Clothes
The most common problem people have with these two words is not remembering whether or not to include the letter e in the spelling.
One way to avoid this problem is to remember that adding an e to the end of the word usually makes the vowel before the consonant sound a long vowel. For example, consider the words pop and pope. Pop has no e after the vowel consonant pair op, which means the o has a short o sound. Pope does have an e after the vowel consonant pair op, which changes the o to a long o sound. Other examples like this include, not/note, hop/hope, and of course cloth/clothe.
However, if the spelling rule of thumb is too difficult to remember, you could also remember that just like its synonym fabric, cloth has no e. Additionally, clothes does contain an e, just like its synonyms garment and attire.
Outside Examples
- “No matter how many times you try to clean that cloth cushion, it doesn’t work. It starts looking shabby,” Yachmetz said. “With this process, we are getting caught up.” –USA Today
- Garcia Zarate, who was homeless, said he found the gun wrapped in some sort of cloth under a seat he was sitting on at the pier. –OC Register
- The T-shirt, bearing the word ‘LOL’, and the skirt could have easily been found in a pile of clothes in the hotel room where Huong stayed, the witness, Nasrol Sain Hamzah, an assistant superintendent, told Huong’s lawyer, Hisyam Teh Poh Teik. –New York Post
- The man was wearing camo-colored pants and a matching Brooklyn Nets hat — but his clothes were not what caught her attention. –New York Daily News
Quiz: Cloth vs. Clothes
Instructions: Fill in the blank with the correct word, either cloth or clothes.
- I need to buy some new outfits. All my other __________ don’t fit me anymore.
- The doctor pulled a white __________ over the body and pronounced him dead.
- What is a man of the ________________ doing in such a disreputable place?
- It is important to wear black ___________ to the funeral.
- You can tell this is a fancy restaurant because it has ____________ napkins.
Article Summary
Should I use cloth or clothes? These two words are similar, but they are never interchangeable.
- Cloth is a piece of fabric when it is a noun or the type of material when it is an adjective.
- Clothes is a noun that means garment, attire, or an article of dress.
Using the information above can help to ensure that you don’t mix up these two different words.
Quiz Answers
- clothes
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- clothes
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