Describing Appearance
By 16/06/2011 12:52:00
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Sometimes we find ourselves having to describe someone we know. Maybe a friend is asking us about our family or maybe we need to describe someone we are looking for. To describe a person’s appearance, we can be very general or specific. It all depends on what adjectives we choose to use.
Questions to ask are: "What does he/she look like?" or "What do they look like?"
WRONG ANSWER: "They look like (short/fat/handsome/etc)" *We don’t need to repeat-look like-"
RIGHT ANSWERS: To describe height/built/age/general appearance:
He/She is tall, They are fit, My best friend is tall and slim, My father is elderly, My teacher is young and beautiful, He is attractive but a little overweight.
We use : Subject+to be+adjective
The adjectives to describe height/built/age/general appearance can have positive, negative or neutral connotations.
Positive: handsome, beautiful, pretty, fit, slim, slender, attractive, good-looking, cute
Negative: skinny, short, fat, dark, underweight, overweight, obese, small, big
Neutral: tall, thin, medium height, young, middle-aged, old, muscular, average, petite
(These connotations are sometimes subjective depending on local perceptions)
To describe hair, eyes, and other features:
My brother has blonde hair, My cousins all have brown eyes, She has long eyelashes
We use: Subject+has/have+adjective+features
To describe complexion, we can use ‘to be’ or ‘to have’:
I’m fair, I have fair skin, I’m dark, I have dark skin
Other adjectives for complexion: pale, olive, light, tanned
NOTES:
1. It is rude to use negative adjectives to describe someone’s appearance. It’s much nicer and more polite to describe someone using ‘not (very) + positive adjective’ or use a modifier with the negative adjective
She is ugly: She’s not very good-looking/She’s a little unattractive.
He is fat: He’s not thin/He’s a little overweight.
They’re short: They’re not very tall/They’re a little short.
*In any case, try to use the nicest adjective you know to describe someone’s appearance"
2. The adjective ‘white’/’black’ describes a race (Caucasian/African), not skin color.
He’s white, so he is relatively fair. She’s black, and she has very dark skin.
*A white person is not always pale/light, and a black person is not always dark-skinned.*
3. We can be even more specific when describing appearance.
Examples:
How tall is he? He’s about 6 feet tall.
How much do you weigh? I weigh 120 pounds.
What does your hair look like? I have long, curly, black hair.
Who do you look like? I look like my father.
We have blonde hair and blue eyes.(Smart Up Your Live)
Questions to ask are: "What does he/she look like?" or "What do they look like?"
WRONG ANSWER: "They look like (short/fat/handsome/etc)" *We don’t need to repeat-look like-"
RIGHT ANSWERS: To describe height/built/age/general appearance:
He/She is tall, They are fit, My best friend is tall and slim, My father is elderly, My teacher is young and beautiful, He is attractive but a little overweight.
We use : Subject+to be+adjective
The adjectives to describe height/built/age/general appearance can have positive, negative or neutral connotations.
Positive: handsome, beautiful, pretty, fit, slim, slender, attractive, good-looking, cute
Negative: skinny, short, fat, dark, underweight, overweight, obese, small, big
Neutral: tall, thin, medium height, young, middle-aged, old, muscular, average, petite
(These connotations are sometimes subjective depending on local perceptions)
To describe hair, eyes, and other features:
My brother has blonde hair, My cousins all have brown eyes, She has long eyelashes
We use: Subject+has/have+adjective+features
To describe complexion, we can use ‘to be’ or ‘to have’:
I’m fair, I have fair skin, I’m dark, I have dark skin
Other adjectives for complexion: pale, olive, light, tanned
NOTES:
1. It is rude to use negative adjectives to describe someone’s appearance. It’s much nicer and more polite to describe someone using ‘not (very) + positive adjective’ or use a modifier with the negative adjective
She is ugly: She’s not very good-looking/She’s a little unattractive.
He is fat: He’s not thin/He’s a little overweight.
They’re short: They’re not very tall/They’re a little short.
*In any case, try to use the nicest adjective you know to describe someone’s appearance"
2. The adjective ‘white’/’black’ describes a race (Caucasian/African), not skin color.
He’s white, so he is relatively fair. She’s black, and she has very dark skin.
*A white person is not always pale/light, and a black person is not always dark-skinned.*
3. We can be even more specific when describing appearance.
Examples:
How tall is he? He’s about 6 feet tall.
How much do you weigh? I weigh 120 pounds.
What does your hair look like? I have long, curly, black hair.
Who do you look like? I look like my father.
We have blonde hair and blue eyes.(Smart Up Your Live)
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