Some idiomatic expressions describing appearance:
1. wear the trousers = a partner in a couple who wears the trousers is the one who makes all the important decisions. Eg. The salesman hesitated before the couple. It was difficult to see who wore the trousers.
2. dressed to kill = somebody who is wearing very fashionable and glamorous clothes intended to attract attention. Eg. She arrived at the reception dressed to kill.
3. Face only a mother could love = a humoristic way of saying that someone is ugly or unattractive. Eg. The poor guy had a face only a mother could love.
4. look like a million dollars = you look extremely good. Eg. With a tan and a new hairstyle she looked a million dollars.
5. (all) skin and bone = people who look very thin or too thin. Eg. After tracking in the Himalayas, he was all skin and bone.
Exercise № 15. Use every idiomatic expression in 2 sentences of your own describing anyone you want.
Exercise № 16. Answer these remarks with the opposite description.
Example: A: I thought you said he was the short, chubby one. B: No, quite the opposite, he's the tall, thin-faced one
1 A: Was that his brother, the dark-skinned, wavy-haired one? B: No, quite the opposite, his brother’s...
2 A: She's always quite well-dressed, so I’ve heard. B: What! Who told you that? Every time I see her, she’s...
3 A: So Charlene's that rather plump fair-haired woman, is she? B: No, you’re looking at the wrong one. Charlene's....
4 A: So, tell us about the new boss; good looking? B: No, I’m afraid not; rather...
5 A: I don't know why, but I expected the tour-guide to be middle-aged or elderly. B: No, apparently she’s only...
Exercise № 17. Write one sentence to describe each of these people, giving information about their hair and face, their height and build and general appearance.
1) you yourself 2) a neighbour 3) your best friend 4) your ideal of a handsome man/ beautiful woman
In order to create a picture of a person in the mind of the reader four things must be used.
Appearance 2. Voice 3. Walk 4. Mannerisms
The following is an exercise to describe some of the people I know.
Controlling Task № 1. Look at the pictures. Pay attention to people appearance and the clothes they are wearing. Try to describe feelings and mood of the people. Now, describe the pictures to your partner verbally and to your teacher in written form.
Controlling Task № 2. This time you need to describe these pictures in details and don’t forget to use your imagination and specify colours of clothes and objects. Time for description: 10 minutes.
Exercise № 18. Read over the text and reproduce it verbally.
The tall slender woman came into the room with little pretension or calling of attention to herself. There was the thought that she had to contend with her impeding age. However the management of this was part of her life showing a resolve to be active up until the very last. Evidence of this is the quick way she moves. The woman's hair is groomed with a care going to the discipline of another time. No neglect is given to this part of her appearance.
Her clothing she selects is tailored with neat pressed lines. Something about the way the woman dresses tells that she had lived a life of dignity.
While speaking her voice is strong, clear and had no mincing or slurring of words. A younger woman seemed to speak as she mouthed words in a concise way. If the material before her held strict discipline or soft emotion the learned academic study was most evident in her carefully covering the material.
Exercise № 19. Instructions as above.
There is strength about the woman sitting across from me. Her features are chiseled as if some carver of stone had carefully cut and shaped them. Physically she has a thin structure, which could easily have been gaunt. Age approaching ninety was the reason. This gives us an understanding and explanation for her tight muscular structure made this way from steady work while living on a farm. She worked as a school teacher with the responsibility also of caring for the duties of country life. It has given her a notable swift walk. Quick steps must have helped her cover territory and area in order to complete numerous tasks.
Although a hearing impediment makes it difficult for her to sometimes understand it still has no effect on the way she speaks. Her voice is soft and controlled. As with all capable people others sometimes resent this and tend to pick at her. However, she seems to be accepting of the ones around her and never becomes angry or short with this sort of treatment.
It is interesting to see how she dresses. Obviously her calling in life dictates her dress in a conservative way. On the other hand, on occasion she will break over to another selection of something colorful and rare with an expensive look. As with all women no matter how much is demanded of us we still all enjoy having a feminine appearance at least once in a while and she is no exception to this rule.
Exercise № 20. Read over the text and reproduce it verbally.
Even though age is present with the woman somehow this isn't what is seen when she slips quietly into a room. It is true she usually has her arms wrapped around her books and material as if she were still cradling one of her children.
Her voice is quiet and melodious with a modulation to tell of her work. The stillness of her movements makes us know she has been inculcated with heavy discipline of one or more persuasions.
Personally, it makes me want to feel an understanding and empathy with the essence of all women who are infinitely beautiful regardless of their looks. To imagine a youthful girl with skin like milk, hair of the most desirable color and a voice like honey gives us an understanding of how a God-fearing father must have been afraid for her. Men have knowledge of other men's choices and desires. People who are terrified themselves often become fearful and domineering in their manner. To have so imprinted all these negative things on a child's mind is an ultimate sadness.
We, who are women, have had a cruel trick played on us in this century. We are made to stare at the successful feminine entertainer on television and the movies while we of the masses are to take up the sometimes basic work available in our own lives whether it is teaching, secretarial work, doctors, lawyers, and so many other careers where we must forego, at least at the work place, our feminine ways. The more feminine, desirable and attractive we are the more we feel it is necessary to cover this over as a weakness.
Exercise № 21. Study these pictures and build a list of proper vocabulary to describe the pictures. Use only the following grammatical tenses: The Present Simple tense and the Present Continuous tense.
Read the model composition below and write down the topic of each paragraph. Find the topic sentences for each paragraph and try to replace them with other similar ones. Then underline the adjectives, which describe physical appearance and circle the ones which describe personality.
Fill in the table with words from the list below. Using words from the completed table describe your partner’s physical appearance, then write a short paragraph describing the appearance of a relative of yours.