Vocabulary check

Exercise 6. Answer these remarks with the opposite description.

Example: A: I thought you said he was a 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 is always quite well-dressed, so I’ve heard.

B: What! Who told you that? Every time I see her, she’s…

3. A: So Charline’s that rather plump fair-haired woman, is she?

B: No, you are looking at the wrong one. Charline’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 7. Complete the sentences in a suitable way. (More than one answer may be possible)

1. She’s got blonde ……………………… .

2. He’s got very pale ……………………. .

3. They’ve both got curly ……………….. .

4. I would say he was medium ……………….. .

5. Her brother has got very broad ………………….. .

6. She doesn’t like men with hairy ………………… .

7. Last time I saw him he had grown a ………………. .

8. He’s got very muscular ………………….. .

9. Both men were very good- …………………… .

10. All of them have got dark …………………… .

FROM THE NECK UP

Notice the different descriptions of hair in the two life stories below.

	Him	Her
at birth aged 3 at 13 at 16 at 19 at 23 at 28 at 35 at 40 at 45 at 50 at 55	thick (jet) black hair curly brown hair a crew cut – an early skinhead long sideboards, spikey shoulder-length hair wavy, swept back, with a side parting neat style and fringe a few grey hairs his hair’s receding distinguished, but he’s balding he’s trying a toupee completely bald	a few mousy strands hair in bunches fastened with slides, grips and ribbons hair in plaits, otherwise completely straight in a bun back-combed, with a ponytail January: she’s a blonde March: she’s a brunette May: she’s a redhead (she’s got auburn hair) July: she’s ash-blonde October: she’s dyed it pink frizzy, slightly streaked combed forward, a few highlights she’s greying her hair’s thinning, so she’s experimenting with a wig her hair’s going white fast the wig’s matted, unmanageable, so she has a blue rinse

USING ADJECTIVES

Using adjectives in your description gives you a way of adding details, of painting a fuller picture with your words. For example, the sentence “The man has just entered the room” gives us only an outline of the description. The addition of the adjective adds another perspective: “The completely bald man of average height has just entered the room”.

Discuss with other students what adjectives you can use to describe each of the people you can see either in the picture or in the group so that the listener or reader would know more about what kind of hair, eyes, complexion, build they have. What colour, for instance, do you think their hair is? What else can you tell the audience about it, so that people who cannot see the picture get an accurate impression? Make a list and compare your list with other students’ lists.

Adjectival word order

quality	size/age/ shape	colour	origin	made of	type/ usage	noun
beautiful	long	brown				hair
	old		French			car
				metal	half-moon	spectacles