Preview（腕試し）

Yoshiki: Do you know a good reform shop around here? I need to have my pants reformed.

Pedro: Do you mean you want to go to a shop that does clothing alterations?

Yoshiko: Yes, that's what I mean!

Yoshiki wants to have his clothes:

A. reformed

B. reformation

C. altered

D. reeducated

Explanation （説明）

In Japanese-English, the word "reform" means to have a piece of clothing changed so that it fits a person properly. When we talk about having clothing changed to suit our body size, we have several different terms we can use in English:

alter: to make either larger or smaller

take in: to make smaller or shorter

take up: to make shorter

let out: to make larger or longer

The noun foralter is alteration.

Examples（例文）

I've been gaining weight recently. I guess I need to have the waist of my pants let out .

The pants legs of Sam's trousers were too long, so he had them taken in three centimeters.

Grammar （文法）

If you don't do the alteration yourself, you would probably say that you had the alteration done.

I really need to have these pants altered before I can wear them.　

Exercises （練習）

1. My pants were too long, so I had a tailor ____________ .

A. take them up

B. let them out

C. let them go

D. take them home

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2. Hank's pants were too tight, so he had them ____________ .

A. let out

B. taken in

C. take in

D took in