DESCRIBING PEOPLE

Watch these two videos to learn how to describe people. Not only you'll practise listening and grammar but also you'll learn vocabulary.

Video 1



Video 2

ADJECTIVES -ED/-ING

Remember that we use -ed adjectives to talk about how a person feels and we use -ing adjectives to talk about the cause of that feeling. Go to 'Grammar' for a more accurate explanation. There you'll also find a list with the most common ones.

Watch this video to compare


And now try these exercises

- Exercise 1
- Exercise 2
- Exercise 3
- Exercise 4
- Exercise 5

STRONG ADJECTIVES

Watch this video to learn about strong adjectives. You can also go to Vocabulary to get a document with an explanation and a list of strong adjectives.


And now you can practise:

Exercise 1

Exercise 2 (A page by the Brisitsh Council with a series of exersises)

Exercise 3 (Includes an explanation)

WRITING: DESCRIBING A PERSON

Remember you have homework, you have to write an email describing a person.

These are some tips to help you with your writing. If you want to get the whole task as a document, go to 'Writing' to see, download and/or print it.

PLANNING

Paragraph 1    age, family, work/study

Paragraph 2    personality (good side)

Paragraph 3    hobbies and interests

Paragraph 4    any negative things?


Useful language:

• He's quite/ very + adjective (friendly, extrovert, etc.)

• She's a bit + negative adjective (untidy, talkative, etc.)

• He likes/loves/ doesn't mind + verb+ -ing (he loves reading, he doesn't mind doing housework...)

• He's good at + verb + -ing (he's good at making new friends...)

When you describe someone's personal qualities you should support your description with examples and/or justifications. e.g.  

          Wayne is very shy - he finds it difficult to make new friends.

You can also describe someone's personality through their mannerisms by:

·          a) referring to the way they speak e.g. 

          He speaks in a soft voice as if he were whispering.

·         b) describing the gestures they use e.g. 

          She constantly uses her hands when she speaks.

·         b) mentioning a particular habit they have. e.g.

  

                Jason always bites his nails when he is nervous.

 

When you mention someone's negative qualities you should use mild language (seems to, can be rather,  a bit etc).For example, instead of saying Paul is lazy, it is better to say 

Paul can be lazy at times

 

Paul is a bit lazy

Paul can be rather lazy

PERSONALITY ADJECTIVES

Studying Zodiac signs and the personality traits that are associated with these signs is a great way to quickly improve your vocabulary related to personality. Each sign begins with a short overview of the main characteristics of the sign.

For Example:
Capricorn is the tenth sign of the Zodiac and associated with hard work and business affairs ...

This section is then followed by a listing of the positive and negative traits.

For Example:
Positive
Practical and prudent ...
Negative
Pessimistic and fatalistic ...

Here adjectives are paired up in synonym and related word pairs.

Start with your own sign, or read the Zodiac signs of your friends. By studying these signs you'll quickly increase your ability to describe other people's personalities!

Click on the image to go to the page

 

The descriptions used in this reference are taken from the Zodiac resource at Wikipedia.

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?