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  • (modern pop music)

  • - Hello everyone, and welcome back to English with Lucy.

  • Today, I've got a slightly longer video lesson for you.

  • We're going to be talking about vocabulary,

  • and more specifically, how to describe people's appearances.

  • Now, this is a really, really important topic.

  • It's normally one of the first things that you learn

  • when you start to learn English,

  • but I want to go a bit more in depth.

  • Normally, people are able to describe basic appearances.

  • I want to teach you slightly more advanced vocabulary

  • so that you can really give an accurate description

  • of people's appearances.

  • If you find understanding me slightly difficult,

  • you can switch on subtitles, and so you'll be able to

  • see the words at the bottom of the screen.

  • Quickly, before we get started, this video will help you

  • with your speaking and your writing and your vocabulary.

  • It will also help you with your listening,

  • because you will be listening to me

  • and learning more vocabulary.

  • But if you want to take your listening

  • and your pronunciation to the next level,

  • why not try audible.com.

  • Audible is a website where you can

  • download and listen to audio books.

  • They've got thousands of titles.

  • I listen to them myself when I go on my long runs.

  • It takes me about a marathon to finish a book,

  • but I really enjoy it.

  • If you download books in English, it's an excellent way

  • of improving your listening and your pronunciation.

  • They are giving you a free audio book.

  • All you have to do is click on the link

  • in the description box and sign up.

  • And if after one month you don't want to pay,

  • you can cancel it, it's completely free.

  • I've recommended some books

  • in the description box with British accents.

  • Let's get started with the lesson.

  • So, firstly, we're going to talk about people's bodies.

  • And I think I'm going to start by

  • talking about height, how tall somebody is.

  • So you might already know these basic terms,

  • short and tall, short and tall.

  • But what about if somebody is a normal height?

  • Well, there are a couple of ways that you can express this.

  • You can say they are of average height,

  • they are of medium height.

  • If you want to be more precise and say

  • their actual height, in centimetres,

  • or feet and inches, you can say, "around".

  • So I would say I am around five foot six.

  • I'm actually five foot five and a half, but

  • sometimes I say I'm five foot six.

  • Other words that you can include are very or quite.

  • So, he is very tall, or she is quite short.

  • Next, we have body type and weight.

  • Now, you have to be a little bit careful

  • when describing somebody's body type or their weight,

  • because you can hurt their feelings.

  • So firstly, I'm going to give you some positive adjectives

  • to describe somebody's weight, and then afterwards,

  • I'll give you the more negative ones,

  • so that you can understand when or when not to use them.

  • But, I will warn you, weight, in the UK, especially,

  • and many other places in the world,

  • is a very sensitive subject, so,

  • if you think you might insult somebody,

  • it's often best not to say anything at all.

  • But that's not my role here, I'm teaching you words.

  • So, let's get started (laughs).

  • So, we have thin and fat.

  • These are generally considered to be negative words.

  • So let's talk about some positive alternatives.

  • For thin, you can describe somebody as slender or slim.

  • They are really nice words.

  • If somebody called me slender or slim, I'd be flattered.

  • Another word is lean, and this means

  • that they're just skin and muscle.

  • It's a positive word, because it means they're in shape.

  • They're muscly, there's no fat on them, they're lean.

  • You can also call somebody petite, and this

  • is when somebody has a small build.

  • It's normally used to describe females

  • who have small shoulders, they're quite short.

  • They're just like a woman, only smaller.

  • They're petite.

  • If somebody is very thin, you can call them slight.

  • They're very slight.

  • And another one is lanky.

  • This means that somebody is tall and very thin.

  • It means they've got long limbs, lanky.

  • If somebody has got a bit of meat on them,

  • you don't want to call them fat, but some nice words

  • you can use are curvy, this means that women have curves.

  • Curvaceous, as well, womanly, voluptuous,

  • this means normally that they've got

  • quite a big bum and big boobs.

  • They're normally flattering when used in a non-creepy way.

  • For a man, stocky, well built, muscly.

  • Okay, now to touch on the negative words.

  • Some quite soft ones for somebody who is larger

  • are plump, chubby, round.

  • This doesn't mean fat or big, it just means

  • that they've got a little bit extra on them

  • You can also say overweight, large, big, heavy.

  • And if somebody is very thin, you can call them

  • underweight, skinny, bony, if you can see their bones.

  • One word that is often used to describe very thin people

  • that shouldn't really be used is anorexic.

  • It's a medical term, it's not actually an adjective

  • to describe somebody's physical appearance.

  • So try to avoid that one.

  • Okay, let's move on to hair.

  • Now, there are two ways in which

  • you can talk about somebody's hair colour.

  • You can say to have, adjective, hair,

  • or to be, adjective, dash, haired.

  • For example, I have blonde hair.

  • I am blonde-haired.

  • The second one is a bit of a mouthful actually,

  • to be blonde-haired.

  • I am blonde-haired.

  • You can also just say, I am blonde.

  • But that's better to use for colours

  • that are very specific to hair colours,

  • like blonde, and ginger, and brunette.

  • So I am blonde, I am ginger, I am brunette, that's fine.

  • But if you say, I am white, or I am black,

  • it could be confused with skin-colour.

  • So it's best to say I am black-haired, I have white hair.

  • So we've got a huge spectrum of colours that you can be.

  • I'm going to talk about the most common ones,

  • but they are quite specific, and you might not

  • have heard of them all before.

  • So let's start with the lightest, and move to the darkest.

  • So, we have white, then we have grey, then we have

  • platinum blonde, and this is white-blonde hair.

  • It's normally not a natural colour, but some people

  • are lucky enough to have naturally white-blonde

  • or platinum hair, it's a really interesting colour.

  • Then we have blonde.

  • If it's a bit darker, it could be called golden.

  • And then, if it's a bit darker than blonde,

  • there are two ways you can describe it.

  • If it's blonde, almost brown, you can say dirty blonde.

  • If it's blonde, almost ginger,

  • you can say strawberry blonde.

  • Then we have ginger, which is more orange,

  • and red, which is a darker red colour, obviously.

  • After that, you have mousy brown,

  • which is a light brown colour.

  • Then brown, then brunette, as well,

  • which is another way of saying brown hair.

  • It's normally a bit darker.

  • Then, dark brown, and then black.

  • Now, if you don't want to specify a colour of hair

  • or skin or eyes, and you just want to say light or dark,

  • you can say fair for light, or dark for the darker colours.

  • So, I am fair, I have fair eyes, fair hair, and fair skin.

  • This means I am just light.

  • Somebody else might have dark hair, dark eyes, dark skin.

  • So, we normally use fair or dark.

  • So, what about hair length.

  • Well, if you have no hair, then you are bald.

  • I am bald.

  • In a video that I did on Aly's channel,

  • Papa Teach Me English, I was bald.

  • If you would like to see me with no hair,

  • and, well, no feminine makeup, different makeup,

  • then you can click up there.

  • See if you recognise me, I look slightly different.

  • Then you have short hair, long hair.

  • But then in between, you can have a bob,

  • I have a bob haircut, in my first videos,

  • I had very short hair in a bob haircut.

  • I didn't ask for that haircut, it was a surprise.

  • Shoulder-length hair, medium-length hair, long hair.

  • If you want to say how long your hair is,

  • you can say, "My hair goes down to my ..."

  • So, my hair goes down to my armpit.

  • My hair goes down to my waist.

  • As far as hair texture, you can have straight hair,

  • wavy hair, curly hair, afro hair,

  • which is really, really dense curls.

  • The quality of your hair can also be described.

  • If your hair is very soft, it can be silky or shiny.

  • If it's not soft, if it's quite damaged,

  • you can say you have dry hair,

  • or you can say it's straw-like.

  • So, let's move on to the subject of skin.

  • This again, is a more difficult one.

  • So, we have the spectrum of white and black.

  • But different people like to be called different things.

  • So, I would call myself white.

  • I have a lot of friends with darker skin

  • who are often called black, but

  • they would actually prefer to be called brown.

  • I would say when in doubt, use fair or dark

  • to describe somebody's skin tone.

  • Now, in the middle, we have tanned.

  • This means that you've been blessed by the sun,

  • you've caught a sun tan, you've gone brown in the sun.

  • And in British English, we say tanned,

  • and in American English, they say tan.

  • If you're not tanned, then you are pale.

  • And that is what I am all of the time.

  • I am always pale, even when I go on holiday.

  • Now, let's move on to eye colour.

  • Again, you can use fair or dark.

  • Fair eyes, light eyes, dark eyes.

  • So you can say, to have, adjective, eyes,

  • or to be, adjective, dash, eyed.

  • So, I have grey eyes, I am grey-eyed.

  • I am dark-eyed.

  • Most of the colours are pretty simple,

  • blue, brown, green, black, grey, brown.

  • I've said brown, haven't I?

  • But one colour that's used quite frequently is hazel.

  • If you have a sort of a browny-green eye,

  • it can be called hazel.

  • So, they have hazel eyes.

  • Now, lips.

  • You can have thin lips, but if you want to talk about

  • somebody with big lips, you can say they have full lips.

  • So if somebody has big, kissy, pouty lips,

  • you can say they have very full lips.

  • If somebody has really sticky out lips and speaks like this,

  • you can call them pouty lips.

  • But yes, full or thin, really.

  • Next, you can talk about noses.

  • So, big or small, obviously, are the basics.

  • If somebody has a bend in their nose,

  • it can be called a crooked nose, a crooked nose.

  • If they haven't got a bend in their nose,

  • it can be a straight nose.

  • If somebody has a small nose, you can call it a button nose.

  • If they've got a hook, a hooked nose.

  • If somebody's nose is like this,

  • it's a turned up nose, or an upturned nose.

  • Face shape, I looked online, and apparently

  • there are nine different face shapes,

  • but we're going to talk about four today.

  • You have oval, round, heart-shaped,

  • which ends in a point, and square,

  • if somebody has a square jaw.

  • What about general appearance.

  • I did do a video with Anna from English like a Native

  • about compliments, and we discussed

  • some of the ways in which you can compliment people.

  • So, that's the positive adjectives.

  • I will cover them in this lesson,

  • but if you'd like to see that, you can click up there.

  • But, it's quite good to separate them into male and female,

  • because one adjective that might be really, really

  • flattering and positive for a male

  • might actually be quite insulting for a female.

  • Adjectives that could be used for both,

  • the positive ones, attractive, beautiful, stunning,

  • which means somebody is just amazingly-beautiful.

  • But then, just for men, there's handsome,

  • and just for women, there is pretty.

  • Now if you described a woman as handsome,

  • you might be insinuating that she has manly features.

  • In the same way that if you described a woman,

  • In the same way, that if you described a man as pretty,

  • you might be saying he has quite feminine features,

  • which is not always something that somebody wants.

  • Negative ones, you could have ugly or plain.

  • Other ways of describing people,

  • you can describe them as masculine or feminine,

  • boyish, manly, girly, womanly.

  • Right, your homework is to describe yourself

  • in as much detail as possible.

  • Put it in the comments and I can't wait

  • to see your descriptions.

  • Also, if you can add any more vocabulary,

  • then definitely include that in your description, as well.

  • That's it for today's lesson.

  • Don't forget to check out audible.com.

  • All of the information is in the description box.

  • I hope you enjoyed this lesson.

  • I really hope you learned something.

  • I've given you a lot of information.

  • Don't forget to connect with me on all of my social media.

  • I've got my Facebook, my Instagram, and my Twitter.

  • And I will see you soon for another lesson.

  • Mwah!

  • (slow pop music)

(modern pop music)

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