Lesson

CORSO BASE DI LINGUA INGLESE

DESCRIBING PEOPLE

Listening

Vocabulary

Comprehension

Structure

Step 1

When you want to know about someone’s appearance you say: What does he or she look like?
In general, people may strike you as being good-looking or else not very good-looking or plain. The word ugly is rather strong and offensive.
When we describe a woman or a child we can say they are beautiful. We can say a girl or a young woman is pretty, while we use handsome for men.

Hair can be fair (blonde, light-red or light brown) or dark (black or brown). It can be long and straight or short and curly, or even wavy (neither straight nor curly). Men can have a beard or a moustache or both. They may have receding hair and some are bald. Skin, too, can be fair or pale or else dark. As you grow older, your skin starts showing wrinkles.

Listening

Vocabulary

Comprehension

Structure

Step 2

When you want to ask about a person’s height you say: how tall is he? People may be tall, short, or average height. When describing a person’s build, you can say a person is slim or thin, although slim is more positive. Skinny means too or very thin. If they are not slim, they are probably overweight, which is nicer than saying that they are fat.

People can be elegant or well-dressed, or else shabby or untidy-looking. Both styles can be regarded as fashionable and trendy, or else old-fashioned. When you describe someone, you usually add any special features that strike you: if they have a tattoo, pierced ears, nose, tongue or belly, or maybe a scar on the face or on another part of the body.