Writing: Basic Mechanics and Formation (A1) - Lesson 12: Writing Short Labels or Captions for Pictures

Lesson 12: Writing Short Labels or Captions for Pictures

You have learned to build correct sentences. Today, we will use this skill to do something fun and useful: write short sentences to describe¹ a picture². A sentence that describes a picture is called a caption³.

This is a great way to practice your English and share what you see with others.

How to Write a Caption

First, look at the picture and ask yourself: "What do I see?" Then, use the Subject-Verb-Object pattern to build a sentence.

person

[Picture of a man eating noodles]

Look at the picture:

• Subject (Who?): A man
• Verb (Action?): eats
• Object (What?): noodles

Caption: A man eats noodles.

Useful Phrases: "This is" and "These are"

Two very useful phrases for captions are "This is..."⁴ (for one thing) and "These are..."⁵ (for more than one thing).

For ONE thing:

[Picture of a single boat on the river]

Caption: This is a boat.

For MORE THAN ONE thing:

[Picture of many coconuts on a tree]

Caption: These are coconuts.

✍️ Caption Writing Checklist

Use this checklist for every caption you write:

• ✔️ Does my caption describe the picture?
• ✔️ Does it have a Subject and a Verb?
• ✔️ Does it start with a capital letter and end with a full stop?
• ✔️ Is all the spelling correct?

🧠 Practice Quiz: Match the Caption

Match the picture description to the best caption.

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1. [Picture of a woman riding a bicycle]

1. He reads a book.
2. This is a woman on a bicycle.
3. These are dogs.

Answer: B

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2. [Picture of two children playing football]

1. This is a child playing football.
2. The man sleeps.
3. These are children playing football.

Answer: C (We use "These are" for more than one child).

📝 Homework: Write Your Own Captions

Now it's your turn to be a writer! Find three pictures. They can be in your house, on your phone, or in a book.

For each picture, write one simple caption in your notebook. Use the "Caption Writing Checklist" to make sure your sentences are perfect.

Example:

home

[A picture of your own house]

Possible Caption: This is my house.

Or: My house is blue.

Vocabulary Glossary

1. Describe: (Verb) - ពិពណ៌នា - To say or write what someone or something is like. ↩
2. Picture: (Noun) - រូបភាព - A photograph, drawing, or painting. ↩
3. Caption / Label: (Noun) - ចំណងជើងរូបភាព - A short piece of text under a picture that describes it. ↩
4. This is...: (Phrase) - នេះ​គឺជា... - A phrase used to identify one thing that is near you. ↩
5. These are...: (Phrase) - ទាំងនេះ​គឺជា... - A phrase used to identify more than one thing that is near you. ↩