Remember It

the verb to beThe verb to bethe verb to be

You have already learnt some adjectives in Lesson 25 that describe how people look:-

Adjectives to describe someone's appearance

beautiful beautiful
(women only)

handsome handsome
(men only)
prettypretty
(girls only)

good looking good looking
(men/women/boys)

ugly ugly
(men and women)
attractive attractive(men, women, boys or girls)

 

Learn

Adjectives

An adjective is a word that modifies a noun to tell you more about it.

Adjectives never change. They are never plural.

For example:-

This is a nice cake.

Adjectives go before their nouns.

They're nice people.

 

Now learn some adjectives that describe what people or places are like:-

Adjectives for people and places - appearances

 

beautiful beautiful  

 

prettypretty    
ugly ugly
 

 

Adjectives for personality (people) or characteristics (places and things)

lovelylovely

  nicenice

 

OK ok   all right all right   horrible horrible   terrible terrible
awful awful

Questions for people, places and things

For people Question Answer
Appearance What does David look like? Oh, he's a handsome man. He's tall with fair hair.
Personality

What is he like?
(What's he like?)

He's a lovely man.

 

For places Question Answer
Appearance What is Tuscany like?
(What's Tuscany like?)
Oh, it's a very pretty place.
Characteristics What is Tuscany like?
(What's Tuscany like?)
It's a lovely place.

 

For things Question Answer
Appearance What is the new Jaguar car like?
(What's the new Jaguar car like?)
Oh, it's a beautiful car.
Characteristics What is the new Jaguar car like?
(What's the new Jaguar car like?)
It's a very comfortable car.

 


 

Opposites

Learning the opposite meaning of words can help you to quickly increase your vocabulary.

big

big / large

"It's a large animal."


small

small

"It's a small animal."


clean

clean

"She's a clean little girl."


dirty

dirty

"She's a dirty little girl."


friendly

friendly

"They're friendly people."


unfriendly

unfriendly

"They're unfriendly people."


expensive

expensive

"It's an expensive car."


cheap

cheap

"It's a cheap car."


good

good

"He's a good boy."


bad

bad

"He's a bad boy."


tall

tall

"He's a tall man."


short

short

"He's a short man."


long

long

"She has long hair."


short

short

"She has short hair."


comfortable

comfortable

"It's a comfortable chair."


uncomfortable

uncomfortable

"They're uncomfortable chairs."


happy

happy

"It's a happy face."


sad

sad

"It's a sad face."


expensive

new

"It's a new car."

cheap

old

"It's an old car."

 

Note !

readingRemember the rules for articlesreading and when to use a or an, this is changed by the adjective.

You use a when the noun you are referring to or the adjective that describes it begins with a consonant.

You use an when the noun you are referring to or the adjective that describes it begins with a vowel.

For example:

It's a car.
It's a new car.
It's an old car.

Naturally Speaking

People

Follow the dialogue.

Mr Bean meets Mr Breuer again at a party.

Mr Bean:

Hello, Mr Breuer. It's nice to see your again.

Mr Breuer:

Mr Bean, what a nice surprise! How are you?

Mr Bean:

I'm fine thanks, and how is Mrs Breuer?

Mr Breuer:

She's OK thank you. She's getting a new teacher next week, a Miss Burton. What's she like?

Mr Bean:

Don't worry she's very nice. She's really friendly.

Mr Breuer:

Oh that's good to know. You come from Derby, don't you Mr Bean?

Mr Bean:

Yes, that's right.

Mr Breuer:

What's it like?

Mr Bean:

It's a big city in the Midlands. It's a really nice city to live in, and the people there are very friendly. What's Dresden like?

Mr Breuer: Dresden is a very large city in the East of Germany. It's beautiful in parts but quite ugly in others. There have been a lot of changes recently.
Mr Bean:

Yes, I can imagine.

 
Thanks to Xeb for the correction.

Note !

listening alright, awful, bad, beautiful, big, cheap, clean, comfortable, dirty, expensive, friendly, good, happy, horrible, large, long, lovely, new, nice, OK, sad, short, small, tall, terrible, uncomfortable and unfriendly listening
are all readingadjectivesreading - they describe nouns
listening very, quite, really and slightly listening
are all readingmodifiersreading - they change (modify) the adjectives
 
!Note - All posts are moderated and then corrected. One correction per person per lesson.

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Next Lesson - Possessive adjectives
Previous Lesson - Appearances # 2

Test your memory - Test It!

Have some fun with facial expressions - Try It

Read this song

For homework, write a short description of where you live. Do you like living there? Is it a nice place to visit?

For example:

I live in .................................. . It is ...................................

 

Print Version - You can print this lesson out here

Created

Week 26