Physical Appearance in Terms of Physical Features

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Physical Features: Three Useful Groups

When you describe how a person looks, everything becomes easier if you sort your words into groups. The first group is the body: height, weight, build and posture. The second group is the hair: colour, length, shape and style. The third group is the face: eyes, nose, mouth, ears and special marks such as freckles, a scar or a beard. When a new word belongs to one of these groups, you remember it much faster and you also use it in the right place in your description.

A very common mistake is to mix these groups. Hair is not an eye, and a scar is not a beard. If a word does not answer the question which part of the person are we talking about?, look it up and write it in the right group. This simple habit removes a large number of errors in both speaking and writing.

Saying What Somebody Has Got

The basic pattern for possession is have got and has got. The verb changes with the subject: I, you, we and they take have got, while he, she and it take has got. In questions and in negative sentences the form does not change: Have you got a sister? / Has she got a sister? / She hasn't got a sister.

There is a very short alternative. Many speakers say have instead of have got and has instead of has got. Both forms have exactly the same meaning. Choose one style and use it in the same text, because she have got brown eyes is always wrong, while she has brown eyes is perfectly normal.

In negative sentences there is one more thing to remember. English has two ways of saying no hair: hasn't got any hair and hasn't got hair. Both are accepted, but after a negative word we normally use any with a count noun, so we say He hasn't got any brothers. After a positive sentence we use the article a: she has got a scar on her face.

Comparing Physical Features

Comparisons work with the same rules as everywhere else in this unit. A short adjective takes the ending and a long adjective takes more or most: taller than, shorter than, thinner than, more athletic than. When we compare two people of the same kind, we also use as... as for equality and not as... as for a difference. The word than never appears with as... as.

• Comparative: My sister has got longer hair than mine. / My sister is taller than me.
• Superlative: He is the tallest boy in our class. / She is the most graceful dancer in the group.
• Equality: My eyes are as brown as my father's.
• Difference: His nose isn't as long as mine.

Two traps should be avoided here. First, more tall is not a comparative form of tall, because tall has only one syllable; write taller. Second, a superlative about one specific group always needs the article the, so write the tallest boy in our class and not tallest boy in our class.

Order of Description and Witness Statements

A good description of a person moves from general to specific. The usual order is height and build, then hair, then eyes and face, and finally one distinguishing feature such as a scar, a mole, glasses or a beard. The last detail is the most valuable one, because it is the detail that helps a person recognise a stranger in a crowd.

The same order appears in official descriptions such as a witness statement. A useful statement has four parts: the general description of height and build, the details of the face and hair, the clothes, and the last action that the witness saw. Professional texts also add the exact time and the exact place, because a description without them is not useful to anyone.

When you write a description, avoid stopping at He is tall. Add two or three more details from different groups and put them in the right order. A strong final sentence looks like this: He is about one metre eighty tall, he has got short black hair and brown eyes, and there is a small scar above his left eyebrow.

Sample Question and Solution

Question: A witness says: A man came into the station at about nine o'clock in the evening. He is tall and quite slim. He has got short dark hair, a moustache and a small scar on his chin. He was wearing a grey jacket and dark trousers.

Solution: Step one: put the information into groups. Height and build come first: tall and slim. Step two: add the hair and the face details: short dark hair, a moustache and a small scar on the chin. Step three: finish with the clothes: a grey jacket and dark trousers. Step four: go back to the beginning of the statement and keep the time and the place at the start. A complete description would be: A tall and slim man with short dark hair, a moustache and a small scar on his chin came into the station at about nine o'clock in the evening, and he was wearing a grey jacket and dark trousers.

Common Mistakes

• Using have with he, she or it: Say she has got and never say she have got.
• Forgetting the article before a count noun: Say she has got a scar and not she has got scar.
• Writing more tall or more short: These adjectives are short, so their comparatives take the ending and not the word more.
• Mixing hair and eyes: Eyes are brown, green or blue, and hair has a length and a shape.
• Leaving out the distinguishing feature: A description without one special detail is too weak to identify anybody.

Summary

Sort your words into three groups: the body, the hair and the face. Use have got with I, you, we and they, and has got with he, she and it, while questions and negatives keep the same form. Short adjectives take the ending for comparison, as in taller than, long adjectives take more, and a superlative needs the article the. Finally, describe a person from general to specific and end with one distinguishing feature.