Parts of a shoe
Parts of a boot
English vocabulary lesson
These are shoes.
These are boots.
What are the main parts of a shoe or main parts of a boot?
Let's see.
Here we have two pairs of shoes
What is the difference between the two pairs?
Yes, they are different colors but there is another difference.
Can you see it?
The blue shoes have shoelaces.
The other shoes do not have shoelaces.
This is a shoelace. There is one.
Sometimes a shoelace is called a shoestring in some places.
Also, sometimes shoelaces are just called laces.
Shoelaces go through those little round holes in the shoe.
Each hole is called an eyelet
and they are usually small metal rings
going along the sides of each shoe.
These are boots.
Boots also have laces.
But they are not called shoelaces,
they're called bootlaces.
Bootlaces are usually thicker than shoelaces, though not always.
They can also just be called laces.
You can see that these boots have eyelets.
Do you remember which part is an eyelet?
Yes, here is one.
But sometimes boots have a mixture of eyelets and these.
These have many names.
They're called hooks
or boot hooks or boot eyelet hooks or hook eyelets or lace hooks.
There really is no definitive word for these.
I tend to use lace hooks.
Now, not all shoes and boots have laces.
Do these shoes have shoelaces?
No.
Sometimes the shoes children wear
don't have shoelaces because they don't know how to tie their laces.
In this case velcro or velcro straps are used instead of shoelaces.
That little TM symbol means trademark.
This means a company owns the name of that brand.
However, that word is in common everyday use.
Velcro straps are easy for children to press together and pull apart.
Some shoes and boots have a mixture of laces and velcro, like these ones.
They have velcro straps at the top
and laces for the rest.
So, we have velcro straps and also normal straps.
A strap is a narrow piece of leather,
or other materials such as cloth,
that is used to fasten or secure something,
keeping that thing in place.
Only some straps have velcro.
Look at these shoes.
These shoes also have straps,
or narrow pieces of leather, that help keep the foot inside the shoe.
A strap often has a buckle at one end like these shoes.
A buckle is a typically rectangular metal frame with a hinged pin.
This is a belt.
A belt usually has a buckle too.
Can you see it?
Here it is.
That narrow leather part of the belt is also called a strap.
Another part of a shoe is the heel.
The heel is the raised part at the back of a shoe.
Remember, heel is also a part of the body
and refers to the back part of the foot below the ankle.
Now look at these shoes.
Do they have heels?
Yes, there are quite tall ones, aren't they?
These types of shoes are called high heels.
Why? Because as you can see,
the heel is high off the ground compared to other shoes.
Now, look at these boots.
I say they're boots because they cover the ankle part of the foot.
We can see it has bootlaces or laces.
Both forms are correct.
You can also see the heel.
Another part of a shoe or boot is the sole.
Which part is that?
Here is a sole.
You can see the sole on the boot too.
The sole is the bottom part of the shoe or boot that touches the ground.
The sole is sturdy which means it is strong and solidly built.
It is normally made of rubber.
One other word you may need to know is tongue.
Yes, a tongue is a part of your mouth,
but it is also a part of a shoe or boot.
Which part do you think it is?
It is this part under the laces.
Here is another example of a shoe with a tongue.
A tongue is a piece of leather or fabric under the laces.
They make the shoe or boot feel more comfortable
because it stops the laces from rubbing against the top part of the foot.
The tongue helps to protect the top part of the foot from being hurt by the laces.
Note: not all shoes have a tongue.
Yes, there are many more parts of a shoe
that have more technical names though even native speakers won't use them in daily life or
may not even know the names of these.
Let's practice a little.
We are going to name different parts of these shoes and boots
What is this part called?
It is the heel.
What is the bottom part of a shoe called?
It is the sole.
What are these called?
They are laces or shoelaces.
What is this part called?
It is the tongue.
What is this hole called?
It is an eyelet.
What is this metal thing called?
It is a buckle.
What is this piece of leather called?
It is a strap.
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