{"id":359,"date":"2025-10-22T04:06:30","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T19:06:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/d.pontalk.com\/?p=359"},"modified":"2025-10-22T04:11:26","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T19:11:26","slug":"describing-people-tall-short-hair-color","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/d.pontalk.com\/?p=359","title":{"rendered":"Describing people (tall, short, hair color)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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English Learning for Beginners: Describing People<\/h1>\n

Dialogue<\/h2>\n
\n

Alice: Oh, Bob, you look like you’ve seen a ghost! What’s up?<\/p>\n

Bob: Alice! You won’t believe it. I just saw the tallest<\/strong> man ever!<\/p>\n

Alice: Taller than you? That’s not hard, you’re not exactly a skyscraper yourself, Bob! (teasing)<\/em><\/p>\n

Bob: Hey! I’m average! But this guy… he was really tall<\/strong>. Like, super tall.<\/p>\n

Alice: How tall is “super tall”? Was he taller than a door frame?<\/p>\n

Bob: Almost! And he had bright red hair<\/strong>. Like a fiery sunset!<\/p>\n

Alice: Red hair, huh? Was it long or short<\/strong>?<\/p>\n

Bob: It was short<\/strong>, a bit spiky. And he had a funny little mustache.<\/p>\n

Alice: A mustache AND red, spiky hair? Sounds like a character from a cartoon!<\/p>\n

Bob: Exactly! Then I saw a woman with him. She was quite short<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Alice: Short? Or just short compared to the giant?<\/p>\n

Bob: Good point! Next to him, she looked tiny<\/strong>. And she had long, dark brown hair<\/strong>. Very shiny.<\/p>\n

Alice: So, a tall, red-haired man and a short-looking woman with long, dark brown hair. Sounds like a fun pair!<\/p>\n

Bob: They were holding hands! Anyway, what about our<\/strong> friend, Mark? How would you describe him?<\/p>\n

Alice: Oh, Mark! He’s not very tall, more on the short<\/strong> side. And he has blonde hair<\/strong>, usually a bit messy.<\/p>\n

Bob: Haha, yes, messy blonde hair is Mark’s signature look! And he wears glasses.<\/p>\n

Alice: Right! And a really nice smile.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Current Situation<\/h2>\n

Describing people is a fundamental skill in English, helping you talk about friends, family, or even strangers you see every day. For beginners, focusing on basic physical characteristics like height and hair color is a great start. In everyday conversations, we often use simple adjectives to paint a quick picture for others, as Alice and Bob do in their chat. It’s common to use expressions like “He is tall” or “She has red hair” to give a general idea of someone’s appearance.<\/p>\n

Key Phrases<\/h2>\n
    \n
  • tall<\/strong>: describes someone with a greater than average height. Example: My brother is very tall<\/strong>.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • short<\/strong>: describes someone with a smaller than average height. Example: The little girl is short<\/strong>.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • red hair<\/strong>: hair color, often bright or reddish-orange. Example: He has bright red hair<\/strong>.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • blonde hair<\/strong>: light yellow or golden-colored hair. Example: She has beautiful blonde hair<\/strong>.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • brown hair<\/strong>: hair color, ranging from light to dark brown. Example: My friend has brown hair<\/strong> and green eyes.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • dark hair<\/strong>: hair that is black or dark brown. Example: The woman has dark hair<\/strong>.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • long hair<\/strong>: hair that extends far down (e.g., past shoulders). Example: My sister has very long hair<\/strong>.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • short hair<\/strong>: hair that does not extend far down (e.g., above ears). Example: He decided to get short hair<\/strong> for summer.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • messy hair<\/strong>: hair that is untidy or not neatly styled. Example: Mark often has messy hair<\/strong> in the morning.<\/span><\/li>\n
  • What does X look like?<\/strong>: A question to ask for someone’s physical description. Example: What does your brother look like?<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Grammar Points<\/h2>\n
      \n
    • Verb “to be” (is\/are) for height and general description:<\/strong> We use “is” or “are” when talking about someone’s height or overall appearance.
      Examples:<\/em>\n
        \n
      • He is tall<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
      • She is short<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
      • They are<\/strong> a fun pair.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
      • Verb “to have” (has\/have) for hair and other features:<\/strong> We use “has” (for he\/she\/it) or “have” (for I\/you\/we\/they) when talking about someone’s hair color, length, or other features like eyes, glasses, or a mustache.
        Examples:<\/em>\n
          \n
        • He has red hair<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
        • She has long, dark brown hair<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
        • I have brown hair<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
        • Adjectives before nouns:<\/strong> In English, descriptive words (adjectives) usually come before the noun they describe.
          Examples:<\/em>\n
            \n
          • a tall<\/strong> man (not “a man tall”)<\/li>\n
          • red<\/strong> hair (not “hair red”)<\/li>\n
          • a funny little<\/strong> mustache<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
          • Basic question word “What”:<\/strong> We use “What” to ask for information, like a description.
            Example:<\/em> What<\/strong> does he look like? (Asking for a description of his appearance)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

            Practice Exercises<\/h2>\n

            Exercise 1: Fill in the blanks with “is” or “has”.<\/strong><\/p>\n

              \n
            1. He _____ tall.<\/li>\n
            2. She _____ long hair.<\/li>\n
            3. My friend _____ short and _____ blonde hair.<\/li>\n
            4. The man _____ dark hair.<\/li>\n
            5. What _____ your sister look like? (Hint: this one is special!)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              Exercise 2: Describe the person based on the text.<\/strong><\/p>\n

                \n
              1. Imagine a woman. She is not tall, she has long, black hair.<\/li>\n
              2. Imagine a man. He is very tall, and he has short, brown hair.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                Answers<\/h3>\n
                \n

                Exercise 1:<\/strong><\/p>\n

                  \n
                1. He is<\/strong> tall.<\/li>\n
                2. She has<\/strong> long hair.<\/li>\n
                3. My friend is<\/strong> short and has<\/strong> blonde hair.<\/li>\n
                4. The man has<\/strong> dark hair.<\/li>\n
                5. What does<\/strong> your sister look like? (Special case for “What … look like?”)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                  Exercise 2:<\/strong><\/p>\n

                    \n
                  1. This is a short woman<\/strong> with long, black hair<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
                  2. This is a tall man<\/strong> with short, brown hair<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                    English Learning for Beginners: Describing People audio_play Dialogue Alice: Oh, Bob, you look like you’ve seen a ghost! What’s up? Bob: Alice! You won’t believe it. I just saw the tallest man ever! Alice: Taller than you? That’s not hard, you’re not exactly a skyscraper yourself, Bob! (teasing) Bob: Hey! I’m average! But this guy… […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-basic"],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"poster","author_link":"https:\/\/d.pontalk.com\/?author=2"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.pontalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.pontalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.pontalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.pontalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.pontalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d.pontalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d.pontalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.pontalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d.pontalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}