Advanced Writing with English in Use

Describingpeople • ModuleSA

SA Describingpeople

Achecklistofdetailstomention

Age
SheIvasiu herlateteens; helc asinhi s earh] t(uent ies; she
It"as about t hirtyyears old ; his nceloe-qear-old son;(/
mid dle-agedICOllu m ;amallin hismidsixties
Height
Estimatingsomeone's heightis moreuse ful than
describ ingth e m astall, shortor .weragehe ight.Use either
metres or f ee t and inches(12in= 1 Ft).
Im 50 = 4 ftII in Im 60 = 5 ft3 in
IIII 70 = 5 ft7 in 1 IIISO= 5 ft11 in
Build
Plu m p, corpulent,o~el1t:eight,
muscular,athletic ,pou.;eryul , stoc ky , ch u nk y,
bmad -sillnlieIered
skinny, s lim, long-le{!J!.ed, loose-limbed
aicell-lnnltman:al C011WlIofmedium, al:erage,
lIon llalbuild
Hair
length, styleandcolour(nor mally inthatorder)
li e's gotlem g cu rly black hair.
She 's gotcopper-co lo u red henna edhair thatco mes doicnto
hericaist ,am/ lchich sheof ten u;ea rs tiedlc ith ascary,
hangillglooselydoic nherhack.
E ye s
size, sha peandcolour; eyeb rowsandeyelashes
.\ly attackerluu l sma ll rmmdgreyeyes.
lie's got asto nish ingbrightblu e eyesam/longdark
eyelashes.
Youcould de scribe the light insome onc's eves:spark ling,
net 11 kliIlg,f lashiIlg,u rillialit
YOIlcan also describe eycsin a way th at may he a com ment
on theperson be hind them :coldgrey eyes;calm,d ream y
eyes; inq uis tttcc, shifty,ico rrictl eyes
C lot h e s
Describin gsomeone'sclothes is some ti meseasie rbutju st
as effective as de s cribing the re stofth e ir appeara nce.
Using adjectives(seepage4 1) you could mention you r
opinionof the garme nt , its age, shape , colour , origin,
mate rialandmake(usually in thatorde r ).
(Jromantic low-cutcrimso nsatinLau ra Ashley
evening d res s
sexy sk i n-tight Italian leather(ro users
Me ntion alsojewelle ry andmake-up.

Face

a hmg tliiufacelc ith narrm clip sami high cheekbones

a ron ndjaceui itha little tu rned-upHoseamic1ll1hhypillk

cheeks

a baldHum,uiitha hugef oreheada m /nochi n

aprettyfaceuiith sma llregula rfeaturesanda

pointedch i ' l

Skin

colour :[chile , p ale , tanned,suntanned,oli~e,

O riental , dark , black

a smoothc011lplexi(m, a pale complexion,

([dark com plexion

clea rskin,greasy sk in, a slwttyface,

a fres h-face d yallih

age:ic rinkled, lined, laugh -lilies, cmu.;'sfeet

Distin g uishingfeatures

glasses, scar,beard,birthmark,mole ,icooden leg, tatt oo

speech:stutte r,sta m me r, lisp , deq J roice,

a sq ueak y voice

C h a r acter

Some aspectsofpeople 's chara cte ra re alsopartof the ir

phys icalappe arance,betrayed inthe ir exp ressionsor the

waytheymov e.

jllmpy, /lig/lly- st ll IUg , anx ious

self-ass u red, confi de nt, det erm ined

sm ug, self-satisfied , a rrogant

cheerful,relaxed, sociable ,aggressi!;e,sensual

Impr e ssion

He lookedlike afootball hooligan; KeanuReeces.

lI e looked asifhe uias !cflit ingforso meone.

She m ighthaec bee n a student,

She seemed ren)confused.

1 got t he impressionthatth e cht ldica»h is accomplice.

Types 01 w rit ing • 79