Appearance is definitely not the most important thing in a person. However, in terms of external characteristics, we distinguish people from each other, so these features are important. To give a verbal portrait of someone means to allow other people to more fully imagine who they are talking about. Such a skill is especially important in the work of a writer or journalist. The topic of this article will be a description of the appearance in English. Examples will help you remember vocabulary and better understand how to use it. Also, some useful game exercises will be offered to your attention. We will successively learn to talk about appearance, our own or someone else's.
General appearance and age
It is not difficult to draw a verbal portrait using English. The description of a person’s appearance begins with general data, which may include, for example, gender and approximate age. Use the following vocabulary:
- woman - woman;
- man - man;
- girl - girl, girl;
- boy - boy, boy;
- guy
- baby - baby;
- toddler - a child starting to walk;
- child - child 3-10 years old;
- teen - a teenager;
- senior (elderly) woman / man - an elderly woman / man.
The word old is not recommended for age, as it sounds impolite. But for young (young) there are no bans.
Often, in order to more specifically say how old a person is, the words early, middle and late are used in English, after which the designation of tens is put: 10 (teens), 20 (twenties), 30 (thirties), 60 (sixties), etc. e. This is best understood with specific examples.
He is in his early fifties - He is 50 and a little.
She is in her late twenties - She's over 20 (about 30).
A person of mid thirties - A person about 34-35 years old.
She is in her late teens - She is a teenager 16-17 years old.
This is more clearly reflected in the following diagram.
Of course, if you know the exact age of the person whose appearance you describe, then you can call a figure. However, keep in mind that in many Western cultures it is not customary to focus on how old one is, especially when it comes to women.
Skin color, height and figure
This topic is also very sensitive, but the description of the appearance in English is not without it. Below you will find a list of words that will help you. A curious fact: in Russian, when talking about physique, we often use the word “complexion”; in English, complexion means skin color (usually refers to the face).
- dark complexion - dark or dark skin;
- light complexion - light skin;
- tanned - tanned
- ruddy - ruddy;
- pale - pale.
To indicate growth, use vocabulary:
- tall - tall;
- short - low;
- medium height - medium height.
With a description of the physique, you need to be extremely correct so as not to offend a person. For example, if he (she) is overweight, then the most polite adjectives in describing a figure will be:
- plump - full (about men and women);
- full-figured - full (mainly about women).
There is an interesting expression - curvy lady. It can be translated into Russian as “woman with forms”, “figured”.
Other words to describe the female and male figures :
- slender - slim
- slim - thin;
- well built - well built;
- muscular built - muscular
- tubby - pot-bellied, stocky;
- strong - strong.
Hair and eyes, facial features
Everything is pretty simple here. The following list of words will help you make the most comprehensive and diverse description of your appearance in English.
Hair:
- dark - dark;
- blond - light
- dark blond, blond-brown - light brown;
- red - red;
- dyed - painted;
- thick - thick;
- straight - straight lines;
- curly - curly;
- wavy - wavy;
- shoulder-length - to the shoulders;
- bald - bald, bald.
Eyes:
- brown - brown;
- black - black;
- blue - blue
- light blue - blue
- green - green.
Useful phrases for describing facial features:
- thin eyebrows - thin eyebrows;
- thick / long eyelashes - thick / long eyelashes;
- full / thin lips - full / thin lips;
- snub / straight / bulbous nose - snub-nosed / straight / "potato" nose.
Special signs
Without mentioning special features, the description of the appearance in English would be incomplete.
- mole - mole;
- dimple - dimple;
- freckles - freckles;
- wrinkles - wrinkles;
- mustache - mustache;
- beard - beard;
- tattoo - tattoo;
- scar - a scar.
We train to describe the appearance
You can play the game with friends who are also studying English: the facilitator makes out any of those present in the room and describes his appearance; the rest's task is to guess who it is. Such an exercise is useful when you have already mastered the basic phrases and speech constructions to create a verbal portrait. If the skill is not yet there, then a good training will be to describe the appearance of people in the photo (for example, from magazines): first written, then oral.
For example, here is a description of the appearance in English (see photo).
She is a young pretty girl in her early twenties. She's got beautiful blue eyes and elegant dark eyebrows. Her shoulder-length hair is dark brown and straight. She's got full lips and broad nose. Her face is all freckled. (This is a young beautiful girl in her early twenties. She has beautiful blue eyes and graceful dark eyebrows. She has shoulder-length hair, blond and straight. She has full lips and a wide nose. Her face is all freckled).