Welcome to Living English.

On today's program we're going to look at how to describe people.

We'll also learn how to make an offer.

We'll start as usual with our drama.

In the last episode Anne told Sarah about her missing brother.

So let's see what Anne and Sarah are talking about now.

Can I help you find your brother?

You're very kind.

It's not your problem.

I want to help. What can I do?

Well.

Maybe [...]. Copy for me this photograph.

Sure, I'd love to.

Anything.

He's very good-looking.

Such a nice smile.

Is he tall?

Fairly tall.

He looks very fit.

[...] sport.

Me too.

What's he doing? Is he a student?

He's not really academic.

He's clever, but he prefers to do things with his hands.

He sounds nice.

I'm looking forward to meeting him.

Let's listen again...

... to how Sarah offered to help Anne.

Can I help you find your brother?

You're very kind.

It's not your problem.

I want to help. What can I do?

First Sarah asks if she can help.

Can I help you find your brother?

Practice this phrase with Sarah on the tape.

Can I help you find your brother?

Now practice with some other examples offering to help.

Wash the dishes.

Can I help you wash the dishes?

Do the shopping.

Can I help you do the shopping?

With anything.

Can I help you with anything?

It's polite to not immediately accept an offer.

Listen to how Anne does this.

You're very kind.

It's not your problem.

First Anne thanks Sarah for offering to help.

She says 'You're very kind'.

Try that with the clip.

You're very kind.

And then she says.

It's not your problem.

It's her problem.

And Sarah doesn't have to help her.

Now listen to Sarah making offer in a way that Anne finds hard to refuse.

I want to help. What can I do?

'What can I do?'...

... is another way of offering to help with anything.

Try repeating this phrase with Sarah.

What can I do?

And so Sarah's offer is accepted.

It's time now to take a closer look at the words called adjectives.

Adjectives are used to describe people and things.

They're the words that tell you what color something is.

For example...

... here's a ball.

It's red.

So it's a red ball.

Adjectives can tell how big or small something is.

This is a big ball.

You use adjectives to express your opinion about something.

What a beautiful ball.

Of what type it is.

This is a plastic ball.

Adjectives often go before the noun...

... or the thing they describe.

Let's look at today's story and see where Sarah describes Anne's brother.

He's very good-looking.

Such a nice smile.

Is he tall?

Sarah described Anne's brother's smile.

She said 'He had a nice smile'.

She used two other adjectives in that clip.

Listen again and try to hear what they are.

He's very good-looking.

Such a nice smile.

Is he tall?

They are 'good-looking' and 'tall'.

Adjectives don't always come before the noun or the thing described.

They can also come after a verb.

Anne's brother is good-looking.

He's handsome.

And Sahar asks 'Is he tall?'

What other words they used to describe Anne's brother?

He's not really academic.

He's clever, but he prefers to do things with his hands.

The two adjectives used to describe Anne's brother are 'clever' and 'academic'.

Let's listen to 'academic' again.

He's not really academic.

Someone who is academic is someone who likes to study.

But Anne's brother is not academic.

He doesn't like to study.

Try saying 'He's not really academic' with Anne.

He's not really academic.

He's clever, but he prefers to do things with his hands.

Anne's brother doesn't like to study.

But he's clever.

She means that he's smarter after study if he wants to.

'He's clever' is short for 'He is clever'.

We don't say 'He clever'.

We say 'He's clever'.

Is, was, are, and were are all forms of the verb to be.

When we use an adjective after the noun that's describing...

... we use a form of the verb to be straight aftert the noun or pronoun.

Try this after me.

I.

I'm clever.

You.

You're clever.

She.

She's clever.

We.

We're clever.

They.

They're clever.

Listen for another example in this next clip.

You're very kind.

You're very kind.

'Kind' is the adjective.

'You're' is short for 'you are'.

You're very kind.

In this clip listen for what happens when we use an adjective after a pronoun in a question.

Is he tall?

In questions we change the word order.

'He is tall'...

... is a statement.

'Is he tall?' is a question.

There're some other verbs that we use when an adjective comes after the thing it describes.

Listen for one here.

He looks very fit.

He looks very fit.

'Fit' is the adjective meaning healthy.

He looks very fit because you can see that he's very fit.

Here's another.

He sounds nice.

He sounds nice.

Nice is the adjective.

He sounds nice because Anne is describing him to Sarah.

Try saying 'He sounds nice' with Sarah.

He sounds nice.

It's time to say 'hello' to Michelle.

Hello Brenton.

You're nice today.

Oh, thank you.

What have you been explaining to our viewers?

How we use adjectives to describe people.

Maybe you'd like to describe me.

How would we describe Michelle?

Is she tall, or short?

I'm not very tall.

But you're not very short.

So I'm not very tall.

But I'm not very short either.

I'm of medium height.

How else can we describe someone?

Well, we can describe the build.

Whether they are thin or fat.

Would you say I'm fat Brenton?

No, but I'd say you're slim.

Thank you.

But what would you say?

You can describe someone's complexion.

The complexion is the color of someone's skin.

Whether they are light or dark.

Michelle is fair.

The skin color is light.

What else can you describe about someone?

You can describe the color of their hair and their eyes.

What can you say about Michelle's hair?

She has fair hair.

We could say she has blonde hair.

Her hair is blonde.

What can you say about her eyes?

She has blue eyes.

And we can also say "Her eyes are blue'.

So help me describe Michelle again.

What about her height?

She's of medium height.

Her height is medium.

What about her build?

She's slim.

Her build is slim.

What about her complexion?

She's fair.

She has a fair complexion.

What about her hair?

She has blonde hair.

Her hair is blonde.

What about her eyes?

She has blue eyes.

Her eyes are blue.

That's enough about me.

Now Brenton, let's see if our viewers can help me describe you.

How would you describe Brenton?

Is he tall or short?

He's tall.

What about his build?

Is he thin, fat, or of medium build?

He's of medium build.

What about his complexion?

Is he dark or fair?

He's dark.

What about his hair color?

He has dark hair.

Is his hair black?

No, unfortunately it's a bit grey.

What about his eyes?

He has dark brown eyes.

And what's another way of saying that?

His eyes are dark brown.

Now listen again to Anne using the adjective 'kind'.

You're very kind.

Anne doesn't just say that Sarah is kind.

She says 'You're very kind'.

You can use words like this in phrasal adjectives.

Remember I said my hair was a bit grey.

You can also describe other things such as the temperatur.

How hot is it?

It's a bit hot.

It's fairly hot.

It's very hot.

And you can also use 'not' in front of 'very'.

She's not very tall.

Alright, [...] said that.

Look at how Sarah uses the word 'very' to describe Anne's brother.

He's very good-looking.

Am I very good-looking?

You're fairly good-looking.

Oh.

Listen to how Anne says how tall her brother is.

Is he tall?

Fairly tall.

He is not very tall.

He is fairly tall.

What's another way of saying 'fairly tall' Brenton?

You could say 'quite tall'.

That means that he's tall but not very tall.

I'm fairly tired now Michelle.

It must be time for us to go.

I'm quite tired myself.

In our next show we'll be looking at days...

... and how to plan a day act with someone.

Until then goodbye.

Goodbye.