Describing People

Hook

Your friend is meeting your cousin at the airport and asks: “What does she look like?” To answer, you need two patterns: be + adjective (She’s tall) and have / has + noun (She has long hair).

Notice

  • She is tall and slim.
  • He has short black hair and brown eyes.
  • My grandmother is old but very active.
  • My brother is young and has a beard.
  • They are friendly and funny.
  • A: What does your sister look like? — B: She’s short and she has curly hair.

Which verb do we use with hair and eyes?

Rule

be + adjective for size, age and personality:

  • height: tall · short · medium height
  • build: slim · thin · big · strong
  • age: young · old · middle-aged
  • personality: friendly · kind · funny · quiet · shy · clever

have / has + (adjectives) + noun for hair, eyes and face:

  • hair: long / short · straight / curly · black / brown / blonde / red / grey
  • eyes: blue / brown / green eyes
  • a beard · a moustache · glasses

Order of adjectives: length → style → colour + noun: long curly brown hair.

Questions: What does he/she look like? (appearance) · What is he/she like? (personality).

Watch Out

  • ✗ She has tall. → ✓ She is tall.
  • ✗ He is short hair. → ✓ He has short hair.
  • ✗ She has brown long hair. → ✓ She has long brown hair. (length before colour)
  • ✗ He has blues eyes. → ✓ He has blue eyes. (adjectives are never plural)

Practice

  1. My sister ___ tall.
  2. He ___ short black hair.
  3. They ___ very friendly.
  4. Correct the order: “She has black long hair.”
  5. Opposite of tall
  6. Opposite of young
  7. Question for appearance: “What does she ___ like?”
  8. Correct it: “My father is a beard.”
Show the answers
  1. is
  2. has
  3. are
  4. She has long black hair.
  5. short
  6. old
  7. look
  8. My father has a beard.

Your Turn

Choose three people: a family member, a friend and a famous person. Write two sentences about each: one with is/are and one with has/have.

Connect

Our Vocabulary Quiz checks words like curly, slim and shy. Choose A1.

Try our Vocabulary Quiz →

Put description sentences in the right order with our Sentence Builder.

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CEFR A1 — Spoken Production: I can use simple phrases and sentences to describe people I know.

Azizul Hakim
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