4.

3 Physical appearance
[00:00:00] Describe how someone looks

[00:00:02] Let’s start with general physical qualities. You might know a lot of this vocab, but
you’re probably not using the right combination of verbs and adjectives. If you find this lecture
too easy, go to the next one to start learning great idioms for describing people!

[00:00:15] When describing most visible characteristics, how someone looks, we use to the
[00:00:20] verb ‘to be’ and then an adjective. Like, He’s short. She’s tall.

[00:00:25] To make these statements into questions, we just use inversion, changing the order
of the ‘to be’ verb and our subject.

[00:00:33] Is he short? Is she tall?

[00:00:35] For people, we always use ‘to be’ with weight.

[00:00:39] To be [00:00:40] thin, slim, or skinny. Or the opposite, to be fat, overweight, curvy or
full-bodied. Curvy and full-bodied are only for larger women, not men.

[00:00:51] If someone is really thin, we say thin as a pencil. If someone is really big, we can say
big as a whale. These two terms, as well [00:01:00] as fat, can be insulting to the people you’re
describing, so be careful with your language!

[00:01:06] For someone’s specific weight, you can use ‘to be’ or the verb ‘weigh’.

[00:01:10] I’m 180 pounds, or I weigh 180 pounds. Pounds is the measurement for weight we
use in the United States! [00:01:20] We don’t use the metric system. Most other countries will
use kilograms.

[00:01:25] For height, we also use to be. As well, in the US we measure our height with feet and
inches. Most everywhere else, they use meters!

[00:01:34] If a woman is short and skinny, we can say that she is petite, but we don’t say this for
a [00:01:40] man. Just say short. If a man or woman is short and heavy, we say stout. For both
men and women, if you’re tall and skinny you are lanky.

[00:01:51] When discussing hair, we use “is” to describe the color and texture. My hair is brown.
Your hair is straight, wavy, curly or frizzy! When talking [00:02:00] about your hair that grows on
your body, it is uncountable singular, that’s why we use ‘is’.

[00:02:06] We use “have” to say if there is hair or not on your body, and for its length.

[00:02:12] Like, I have long hair. I have brown hair. I have short hair. I have a beard. So you can
say ‘my hair is…” [00:02:20] Or, ‘I have ... hair’.
[00:02:22] When describing a people to another person, we can also use “with” to describe hair
qualities, but not when describing yourself unless you are doing it in the 3rd person, that means
describing yourself as “she” or “he”.

[00:02:35] Here are some examples.

[00:02:36] Look at that guy!

[00:02:38] Which guy?

[00:02:40] [00:02:39] The guy with the beard

[00:02:42] Hey! I just arrived at the bar. I’m the guy with the green shirt.

[00:02:47] Okay, I’m the guy with the long black hair.

[00:02:50] If you have no hair, you are bald. If you are losing hair, you have thinning hair.

[00:02:54] We also use have to describe a unique physical quality that someone has. Like a
[00:03:00] scar, a birthmark, and freckles.

[00:03:02] For glasses we have a few options, but first, remember, It’s glasses. A pair of glasses.
For describing yourself and others, use the verb ‘to wear’ in the present continuous.

[00:03:14] LIke, I’m wearing glasses. The person I’m interested in is wearing glasses. If we use
the [00:03:20] present simple, we are describing a habit or trend. So, “I wear glasses”, means I
wear glasses everyday. But, “I’m wearing glasses”, means I’m wearing glasses right now.

[00:03:31] She’s talking to a guy over there.

[00:03:33] Which guy?

[00:03:34] The guy with glasses

[00:03:36] For most other clothing and clothing accessories, [00:03:40] use wearing! He’s
wearing a hat. She’s wearing a necklace. He’s wearing a shirt. She’s wearing blue heels. They’re
wearing watches and so on. Again here, when describing someone to someone else, you can use
‘with’.

[00:03:54]