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Unit 1 Describing people

 


UNIT1
People
When describing people your composition needs to be well organized. It should have anIntroduction where you briefly set the scene (name, time/place you met/saw him or her, etc.), a Main Body consisting of two or more parts describing physical appearance, personality characteristics and hobbies/interests/everyday activities and aConclusion which summarises your feelings about the person described. All these parts should be linked together with a variety of linking words.
Appearance
When describing physical appearance you should give details in the following order: height/build/age, facial features, hair, clothes moving from the most general adjectives to the most specific ones.
Anna is tall, thin woman. She has got a long face, blue eyes and an upturned nose. She wears her long blond hear loose. She is often casually dressed in a t-shirt and jeans.

Build
Well-built, muscular, skinny, shapelessill-made
Shoulders
Board, round, sloping, high, narrow
Complexion
Dark, fair, olive, pale, sunburn, swarthy
Hair
Fringe, knot of hair, lock, ponytail, pinned-up hair, plaits
Forehead
Broad, narrow, high, low, domed
Mouth
Firm, stern, large, small
Eyebrows
Straight, bushy, shaggy, arched, penciled
Eye-lashes
Straight, thin, thick, long, short, curving

Facial expression

 

Look at those models poutingfor the photographers! [positioning their lips in a sexually attractive way]

 

You don't have to grimace every time I eat raw garlic. I happen to think it's delicious, [make an expression of pain or strong dislike]

 

I arrived late and he just scowled at me. [gave a bad-tempered, angry look]

 

She was leering at us. I felt very uncomfortable and wanted to leave, [looking in an unpleasant, sexually interested way]

 

If she doesn't get what she wants, she pouts for the rest of the day. [positions her lips in a look of annoyance]

 

 

Words of wisdom
· Clothes make the man.
· The eyes are the window of the soul.
· One man’s meat is another man’s poison.
· Never trust appearances.
· First impressions are the most lasting.

Character
· When you describe people’s character, you can include positive (e.g. kind) and negative (e.g. lazy) qualities.
· When you talk about negative qualities, you can use the expressions in bold. e.g. He tends to/can be aggressive at times. He is often aggressive. (NOT: He is aggressive).

Positive

Negative

Hard-working

Lazy (=never does any work)

Punctual (=always on time)

Not very punctual; always late

Reliable

Unreliable (=you cannot trust/depend on someone like this

Clever, bright

Stupid, thick

Flexible

Inflexible (=a very fixed way of thinking; unable to change)

ambitious

Unambitious (=no desire to be successful and get a better job)

Note also:
He's such an awkward customer, [difficult person to deal with]
She's a pain in the neck. Nobody likes her. [nuisance, difficult]
He gets on everyone's nerves, [irritates everybody]