Speaking: Vocabulary for Speaking A2 - Lesson 4: Describing People (Simple Appearance & Personality)

Speaking: Vocabulary for Speaking A2

Describing People (Appearance & Personality)

Listen to the vocabulary and examples here.

What you will learn: By the end of this lesson, you will be able to use basic adjectives to describe a person's physical appearance and their personality.

Describing a Friend 🧑‍🎨

When we talk about people, we often describe two things: their appearance (what they look like) and their personality (what they are like).

"My best friend's name is Vanna. He's quite tall and he has short, black hair. He's very friendly and funny, so he has a lot of friends. He's also very smart and hard-working; he is the best student in our class. Everyone likes him because he is a very kind person."

Vocabulary for Describing People (Click 🔊)

Appearance (រូបរាង)

tall / short

long hair

short hair

young / old

black hair

brown eyes

Personality (បុគ្គលិកលក្ខណៈ)

friendly

kind

funny

shy

smart

hard-working

Grammar Focus: 'is' vs. 'has' (Click 🔊)

This is a very important grammar rule for describing people.

Rule 1: Use is / are + ADJECTIVE

We use the verb 'to be' to describe qualities or characteristics.

• He is tall.
• They are friendly.
• She is smart.

Rule 2: Use has / have + NOUN PHRASE

We use the verb 'to have' to describe things a person possesses, like hair or eyes.

• She has long hair.
• I have brown eyes.
• He has a new shirt.

Pronunciation Tip

🗣️ Linking with "is" and "has"

To sound more fluent, we often use contractions and link words together.

• "He is tall" becomes "He's tall."
• "She is friendly" becomes "She's friendly."
• "He has short hair" often contracts to "He's got short hair."
• (Sometimes people say "He's short hair," but "He's got" is more common.)

Practice Describing People 🎯

Activity 1: "is" or "has"? (Self-Check)

Complete the sentences with the correct verb: "is" or "has". Click "Show Answer" to check.

1. My teacher ______ very kind.
   Show Answer

   is

2. He ______ short black hair.
   Show Answer

   has

3. She ______ very hard-working.
   Show Answer

   is

4. That man ______ a new moto.
   Show Answer

   has

5. They ______ friendly.
   Show Answer

   are

6. I ______ long hair.
   Show Answer

   have

Activity 2: Guess Who?

Work with a partner. Secretly choose one person in the classroom or a famous person you both know. Give three descriptive sentences using "is/are" and "has/have". Your partner must guess who you are describing.

Example: "This person is famous. He is funny. He has short hair." (Answer: Maybe Mr. Bean?)

Vocabulary Reference (Click 🔊)

• Appearance / Personality

  How a person looks on the outside / What a person is like on the inside.
• tall / short (Adjectives) | ខ្ពស់ / ទាប
• friendly / kind (Adjectives) | រស់រាយរាក់ទាក់ / ចិត្តល្អ
• funny / shy (Adjectives) | កំប្លែង / អៀនអន់
• smart / hard-working (Adjectives) | ឆ្លាត / ឧស្សាហ៍ព្យាយាម
• long hair / short hair (Noun Phrases) | សក់វែង / សក់ខ្លី
• young / old (Adjectives) | ក្មេង / ចាស់

Your Vocabulary Mission ⭐

This week, your mission is to describe someone you know.

Choose a member of your family or a close friend. Write three sentences to describe them. Use at least one adjective for appearance and one for personality. Use "is/are" and "has/have" correctly. Practice saying your description.

Example: "My sister is young. She has long hair, and she is very smart."