Correctly describing appearance is far from an easy matter. Here you need to take into account all the anatomical features, characterize each part of the body step by step. Similar practices are often used in psychology, but the topic of creating a correct verbal portrait of a person is touched upon more deeply in criminology, where it is especially important.

Regardless of the type of activity, everyone should have basic skills in describing appearance. In order to master this as quickly and easily as possible, we offer step-by-step instructions.

Basic signs

First of all, you need to identify the initial signs. These include:

• Gender: male or female;
• Age. If you do not know the exact age, indicate it approximately within some range.
• Nationality. It can be determined visually. Thus, you need to indicate who you look like: European, Caucasian, Chinese, African, etc.;
• Height. To visually determine the approximate height, you need to compare it with the one standing next to you, whose parameters you know. According to the male classification, height up to 167 cm is considered low, height up to 175 cm is considered average, and height is correspondingly higher than this value. For women, these figures are 5 cm less each.

Body Features

The main types of human figure are considered to be thin, athletic, dense and obese. It is also necessary to pay attention to the presence of features in the form of humps, a curved spine, uneven shoulders, and so on.

Head size is also important. Compared with general view physique, the head can be small or large.

Facial features

Perhaps our face has the main distinguishing features.

It is its features that make us unique and inimitable. Therefore, it is extremely important to carefully describe all the details.

The first thing you need to determine is your face shape. It can be round, oval, rectangular, square and triangular. Next, skin color is described: pale, dark, red, yellow. It is also necessary to take into account some distinctive features, such as dimples, wrinkles, problem skin (acne and pimples), age spots and birthmarks, and so on.

• Brows. They are classified by length, thickness and density. Depending on their shape, they can be straight, arched or tortuous. As for women's eyebrows, they can be characterized as colored or tattooed.
• Eyes. It can be described in several ways at once. First of all, in shape, color (blue, green, gray, brown), cut and fit (low, protruding) and some other features (oblique, with a cataract, multi-colored, and so on).
• Nose. Features are determined by the width, shape in profile (humped, straight, upturned, snub-nosed).
• Lips. It is necessary to accurately note their thickness, the position of the upper and lower lips, its height and elevation.
• Ears. Based on the size and shape of the auricle, they can be divided into round, oval and triangular. According to the position of the ears, they can be vertical or oblique. The degree of protrusion of the ears can be upper, lower or general.

Hair and hairstyle

There are many parameters by which they can be classified.

• First of all, it is the color (light, red, light brown, dark, etc.).
• They can be divided into medium, short and long, and according to density and shape - straight, wavy, curly.
• Women's ones have several more features: dyed, natural, the type of haircut and hairstyle is also taken into account.
• Possible mustaches, beards and sideburns in men are described in the same way.

“Only the most undiscerning people do not judge by appearance.”(Oscar Wilde)

To determine a person’s character by his appearance, there is a whole science– physiognomy. Of course, there is no need to talk about its accuracy, however, even in ancient China physiognomy was considered one of the full-fledged branches of medicine, and in the East they believed that a person’s character and even life path could be determined by appearance.

It is not without reason that some faces attract us and instantly inspire confidence, while others cause us to be rejected. This technique is actively used in cinema. Just remember the appearance of Sharikov (Vladimir Tolokonnikov) in the film adaptation of the story “ dog's heart“- the first frames are enough to understand: this type of face indicates that its owner has a bad character and a very limited mind. So, let's find out how you can determine a person's character by appearance.

Body structure and character

The body is much easier to change than the face, however, in order to change the shape, you will have to put in some effort, right? That is why it is quite fair to believe that playing sports affects our character.

1. Head and neck:

• pointed - betrays inconstancy and envy;
• a long neck with a small head, on the contrary, indicate weakness and a tendency to melancholy;
• a short neck is a sign of shortsightedness and stubbornness;
• a thick, “bull” neck is characteristic of fearless people, and a “lion” (not so thick, but quite large) - for generous people;
• a long, thin neck reveals a timid, dreamy person.

2. Shoulders:

• narrow shoulders. According to experts, a narrow chest and drooping or even hunched shoulders indicate a person’s isolation and vulnerability, as well as the fact that he is prone to self-digging;
• an expanded chest, broad shoulders are a sign of a purposeful, open person, as well as fearlessness.

3. Stomach:

• a strong, toned stomach is a sign of endurance and strong character;
• flabby and saggy - character weaknesses.

4. Hips and legs:

• narrow, strong hips with toned buttocks are a sign of endurance, the ability to get out of difficult situation;
• the hips, with the sides hanging over them (like those of a frog), give the appearance of a chatterbox;
• wide, massive hips indicate stubbornness, but if the features are rounded, they indicate a soft character;
• thin, weak and poorly defined ankles are a sign of lust;
• strong, slender legs indicate the ability to achieve your goals.

Face type and character

Determination of character by facial features often occurs on an instinctive level, in the first seconds of acquaintance. “Horse face”, “predatory eyes”, “toad mouth” - we immediately project these labels onto a person’s character, we judge him by his appearance. What does physiognomy say about this?

1. Forehead:

• a large, convex forehead without hair indicates intelligence and a penchant for winning recognition. If it is round, it is likely that its owner is prone to lying;
• a long forehead on a narrow face with a small chin indicates cruelty, even tyranny;
• a square hairline pattern speaks of honesty;
• tall bald patches often give away travelers and people with strong motivation;
• a narrow forehead indicates that its owner is easily angered;
• low often betrays some limitations, gloominess and practicality.

2. Brows:

• thin, arched eyebrows indicate arrogance and ambition;
• fused eyebrows often reveal jealous, rude and even cruel people;
• shaggy ones speak of simplicity but sincerity;
• the drooping eyebrows belong to the realists;
• very light ones often indicate that their owner is playful and flighty.

3. Eyes:

• deep-set, small ones betray envy, greed and cunning;
• large, wide-open ones speak of laziness, daydreaming and talkativeness;
• small ones - curiosity and eloquence;
• narrow, with a gaze - cruelty;
• big, clear - the makings of a leader, intelligence.

4. Nose:

• a sharp nose reveals the owner’s temper and severity;
• wide and thick speaks of rudeness;
• an upturned nose indicates frivolity, dreaminess and capriciousness;
• a long nose with a hump indicates a strict, but not evil character.

5. Mouth:

Description of a person's appearance- this is a description of a person’s face, his figure, gestures, manners, characteristic posture, clothing. The main task of such a description is to find characteristics, the main thing is in a person’s appearance and being able to convey them in words. They may be associated with peculiarities of manners, gait, his occupation and profession, and character traits.

The source of essays describing appearance can be anything. As with other descriptions, this can be a life experience when a verbal portrait is recreated from memory (for example, “The appearance of a person I saw once ...”). Or imagination (“My portrait in 10 years”).

Sample essay plan:

1. Introduction.
2. General impression (figure, height).
3. Facial features (oval face, eyebrows, eyes, nose, forehead, lips, chin, cheeks). Hair (color, length and hairstyle). Ears.
4. Clothes.
5. Behavior (gait, manner of speaking, posture...).
6. Conclusion.

Possible definitions:

Eyes - green, gray, brown, blue, black, blue, heavenly, grayish-blue, radiant, dark, expressive, thoughtful, light, big, small, cunning, running, narrow, slanting, slanting, evil, kind, funny, wild , friendly, distrustful, insidious...

Brows - beautiful, straight, thick, thin, sable, wide, shaggy, spread out, fused, asymmetrical...

Forehead - tall, low, open, straight, Socratic, wide, wrinkled, sloping, flat...

Sight - confused, attentive, expressive, smart, curious, ironic, flirtatious, loving, embarrassed, indifferent, envious, surprised, cheerful, incredulous, open, sad, enthusiastic, cunning, trusting...

Nose - straight, with a hump, upturned, wide, narrow, snub-nosed, long, short, ugly, beautiful, small, potato-shaped, duck-shaped...

Hair - short, long, chestnut, light, blond, straw, gray, with gray hair, thick, lush, curly, shiny, straight, wavy, sticking out like tow, braided, pulled back, combed back, disheveled, styled...

Figure - good, slender, tall, large, plump, thin, squat, masculine, feminine...

Gait - fast, leisurely, light, silent, heavy, collected, waddle, strange, bouncing, funny...

Pose - majestic, intense, graceful, beautiful, picturesque, strange, relaxed, comfortable, uncomfortable...

We will borrow an example of a description of appearance from M.Yu. Lermontov (from the novel “Hero of Our Time”):

“He was of average height; his slender, slender figure and broad shoulders proved a strong build, capable of enduring all the difficulties of nomadic life and climate changes, not defeated either by the debauchery of metropolitan life or by spiritual storms; his dusty velvet frock coat, fastened only by the bottom two buttons, made it possible to see his dazzlingly clean linen, revealing the habits of a decent man; his stained gloves seemed deliberately tailored to his small aristocratic hand, and when he took off one glove, I was surprised at the thinness of his pale fingers. His gait was careless and lazy, but I noticed that he did not wave his arms - a sure sign of some secretiveness of character. However, these are my own comments, based on my own observations, and I do not at all want to force you to believe in them blindly.

When he sat down on the bench, his straight waist bent, as if he didn’t have a single bone in his back; the position of his whole body depicted some kind of nervous weakness: he sat as Balzac’s thirty-year-old coquette sits on her downy chairs after a tiring ball. At first glance at his face, I would not have given him more than twenty-three years, although after that I was ready to give him thirty. There was something childish in his smile. His skin had a certain feminine tenderness; his blond hair, naturally curly, so picturesquely outlined his pale, noble forehead, on which, only after long observation, one could notice traces of wrinkles that crossed one another and were probably visible much more clearly in moments of anger or mental anxiety. Despite the light color of his hair, his mustache and eyebrows were black - a sign of the breed in a person, just like the black mane and black tail of a white horse. To complete the portrait, I will say that he had a slightly upturned nose, teeth of dazzling whiteness and brown eyes; I must say a few more words about the eyes.

First of all, they didn't laugh when he laughed! -Have you ever noticed such strangeness in some people?.. This is a sign of either an evil disposition or deep, constant sadness. Because of the half-lowered eyelashes, they shone with some kind of phosphorescent shine, so to speak. It was not a reflection of the heat of the soul or the playing imagination: it was a shine, like the shine of smooth steel, dazzling, but cold; his gaze, short, but penetrating and heavy, left an unpleasant impression of an immodest question and could have seemed impudent if he had not been so indifferently calm.”

Good afternoon, dear student!

Today I would like to pay attention to such a topic as describing a person. Very often we need to describe someone's appearance or character, and as a foreigner learning Russian, it is quite difficult to find the right words or construct sentences. Let's see where we should start and how simply and correctly we can do this?

In Russian, I believe that it is best and easiest to start describing a person’s appearance from a person’s face. This is the part of the appearance that immediately catches the eye, what people first pay attention to. In the Russian language there is even such an idiom, or as we often say “stable expression”, which carries a hidden meaning:

Don't lose face in the dirt!

The Russian traditional idiom which means not to lose yourself in kind of difficult or confusing situation.

This expression means that a person should not disgrace himself or do something for which he will later be ashamed. Thus, you can understand that the face in the Russian language occupies an important place in the description of appearance. How can we describe a face, what words should we choose? For example, let's look at some words:
Round face/ chubby person A chubby, moon-faced person
A fair face
A gentle face person

Fresh face [Svezhee litso] A kind of fresh face person

The girl had a pleasant face, quite gentle and fair.

He looked great and his face was fresh

After we have described the face in a nutshell, you must describe what is considered very important about a person's face. What do you think this could be? According to many people, the next part of appearance that occupies an important place is the eyes. If you remember the history of the Russian people and language, among other things, you may come across the following expression: “the eyes are the mirror of the soul.” The fact is that in Rus' they did not say the word “eyes”, but used “eyes” and often, when spouses addressed each other, they uttered the following phrase: “the light of my eyes,” which means spiritual closeness, a very sincere attitude of a person towards someone he loves and respects. Over time, people stopped using the word "eyes" and "eyes" replaced it. How to describe eyes in Russian? In fact, it is very easy and you can describe the eyes endlessly, starting from color, ending with shape and expression.

Beautiful eyes

Ann has a very beautiful eyes

Bright eyes

The old lady had bright eyes, despite her age

Big eyes

The girl has big eyes, just like a doll.

Wide-set eyes

People who have wide eyes are very interesting.

Narrow, squinted eyes

The guy had narrowed eyes, just like he was going to do something tricky

Light blue eyes

Most Russian people have fair eyes

To describe the rest of the face, you can use the following words:

Snub nose/aquiline nose

At Varvara's snub nose Varvara is a snob-nosed girl

A snub nose means that the tip of the nose is turned up and the nose itself is short in shape. An aquiline nose usually belongs to people who have a hooked nose - a convex nose.

Rosy cheeks, dark skin

A baby girl has pink cheeks

Rosy cheeks are also characteristic feature bright people, who have light skin, eyes and hair color. Dark skin is a skin type that gets darker from the sun and tans.

Plump/thin lips

The woman opposite is very beautiful plump lips The woman next to me has so beautiful chubby lips

Now let's move on to describing the human figure, for this you can use the following words:

Plump a plump person
Slender Slender
Sportswear
Obese Obese

To describe growth, you can use the following phrases:

Young woman tall A tall girl
He was short He was a shorty old man

Very often in Russian, adjectives take a diminutive form, as happened with the adjective “low” - “low”

You can also describe the legs:

Short/long legs
Thin/slender/chubby Thin/slender/chubby

To describe your back you can use the following adjectives:

Hunchbacked
A straight back
A stooped back
Wide A wide back

Very often, in addition to appearance, we need to say a few words about a person’s character, about his internal qualities; Russian-speaking people even have a proverb that is still relevant: “they are greeted by their clothes, but they are seen off by their minds.” This means that in addition to appearance, people pay great attention to a person’s mind, character, and what makes him stand out. To describe clothes we can use these simple adjectives:

Beautiful Beautiful
Fashionable, trendy
Bright
Neat Neat
Evening wear/dress

Business/office Dress code, office/business clothes, formal clothes

At our work it is customary to wear business clothes We have to wear formal/business clothes at our work

Tanya is keen on bright and fashionable clothes

Now let's look at the qualities that we need for the second part of our proverb, those that relate to the mind, upbringing and behavior:

Well-mannered (person) A well- bred person
Sloppy An untidy/sloppy
Sloppy A ragged person
Kind person
An open-hearted person
Secretive person
An uninhibited person
Shy A shy person
A confident person
Smart A smart/intelligent person

A description of a person in English will consist of both a story about appearance and a description of character and habits. Since in the lessons about describing a friend we have already touched on some vocabulary regarding descriptive appearance, in this one we will repeat it in various combinations and learn new ones with examples.

Description of appearance in English

Let's see what we can say about human hair.

She has long wavy red hair. – She has long wavy red hair.

He is short-haired. - He has short-cropped hair.

She has straight medium length hair. Her hair is brown. – She has straight hair of medium length. She's brown-haired.

She has shoulder length curly hair. Her hair color is fair. – She has wavy hair of medium length. Her hair color is light.

She has short dark hair. – She has short dark hair.

Please note: when writing a description of a person's appearance in English, we can also mention what kind of hairstyle he/she wears. As in the story about clothes, you can use the verb wear. For example, she wears her hair on a ponytail (she puts her hair in a ponytail).

Hair length and color – Hair length and color

Eyes

We have already talked about eye color in previous lessons, let's see what eye shape they come in.

• Almond - almond-shaped.
• Round - round.
• Asian/upturned – Asian (raised corners).
• Downturned – lowered corners.
• Close-set – widely planted.
• Wide-set – closely planted.
• Hooded – with drooping eyelids.
• Deep-set - deeply planted.
• Protruding - convex.

Compiling a description of appearance on English language, we can also mention eyelashes and eyebrows, which can be long, short, thick, thin and curved.

About eyebrows (eyebrows) we can say that they have the shape of a soft angle (soft angled), a sharp angle (hard angled), be rounded (round curved) or straight (flat).

Physical appearance – appearance

Let's see how we can describe a person's eyes.

She has almond green eyes with thick dark eyelashes and soft-angled eyebrows. – She has green almond-shaped eyes with thick dark eyelashes and rounded eyebrows.

He has close-set downturned eyes framed with thin short eyelashes. He has flat eyebrows. – He has close-set eyes with downturned corners, framed by short, sparse eyelashes. He has a straight eyebrow shape.

Her blue round eyes are framed with long curved eyelashes and thin round curved eyebrows. – Her round blue eyes are framed by long, rounded eyelashes and thin, rounded eyebrows.

She has wide-set Asian eyes and short dark eyelashes. – She has wide-set Asian eyes and short dark eyelashes.

Face

Let's now see what can be said about a person's face, let's start with the general thing - face shape, it can be:

• Oval - oval.
• Round - round.
• Long - oblong.
• Square - square.
• Triangular - triangle.
• Diamond - diamond.
• Heart - heart.

Speaking about the shape of the face, there is no point in mentioning in detail the shape of the chin; about it we can add that it is sharp (pointed), double (double). You can also describe the shape of the nose.

• Small and short - small and short.
• Long and narrow – long and narrow.
• Aquiline – eagle.
• Turned-up - snub-nosed.
• Bulbous - pear-shaped.
• Hooked - crochet.
• Broad - wide.

We can also mention the mouth and lips. About lips we can say that they are plump (full) or thin (thin).

Let's make some examples.

She has an oval face with a round chin, a big mouth and full lips. She has god a short turned-up nose. – She has an oval face shape with a rounded chin, a large mouth and full lips.

His face shape is square, he has long hooked nose and thin lips. – He has a square face shape, a long hooked nose and thin lips.

She has got a heart face, a broad nose and a pointed chin. Her lips are full. – She has a heart-shaped face, a wide nose and a pointed chin.

Please note: instead of have/has you can say have/has got - both options are correct and the translation does not change.

Face shapes - face shapes

Figure

We will also need to describe the figure and build of a person. In addition to the fact that a person can be tall, short, or medium height, we can also say:

• Slender is slender.
• Petite – graceful, small in stature.
• Overweight - overweight.
• Plump - full.
• Athletic - athletic build.
• Skinny - thin.
• Of medium build - medium build.

Human qualities in English

After we have dealt with external data, let's start describing character and personal qualities, here we can add adjectives in English that characterize a person, words that describe appearance, but are a sign of how a person takes care of himself.

• Friendly - friendly.
• Kind - kind.
• Helpful - responsive.
• Smart - smart.
• Educated - educated.
• Intelligent - smart, erudite.
• Well-behaved - someone who knows how to behave well.
• Well-shaved - well shaved.
• Arrogant – arrogant.
• Neat, tidy - neat, tidy.
• Untidy, messy - sloppy, untidy.
• Fashionable - fashionable.
• Stylish - stylish.
• Old-fashionable - old-fashioned.
• Agile – agile, agile.
• Awkward, clumsy - clumsy, awkward.
• Graceful - graceful.
• Elegant – elegant.
• Hardworking - hardworking.
• Lazy - lazy.
• Confident - confident.
• Shy – shy.

Story

Let's try to create a description in English of a person with the vocabulary that was listed above.

I want to tell you about my neighbor. We are good friends with him. He is quite tall, with short red hair and kind blue eyes framed with short red eyelashes and thick flat eyebrows. He has an athletic build. His face is oval, he has got a long thin nose and thin lips. He is very friendly. When I was moving in our house he suggested to help me with my things. That's how we met for the first time. I noticed at once that he is very elegant and stylish. He is always neat and well-shaved. Later I found out that he is also very smart and intelligent person. He likes to study and share what he has already learned. It is always interesting to talk to him.

I want to tell you about my neighbor. We had Good friends. He is quite tall, has short red hair and kind blue eyes, framed by short red eyelashes and thick, straight eyebrows. He has an athletic build. He has an oval face shape, a long thin nose and thin lips. He's very friendly. When I moved into our house, he offered to help me with my things. That's how we first met. I immediately noticed that he was very elegant and stylish. He is always neat and well shaven. Later I found out that he is also a very smart and erudite person. He enjoys learning and sharing what he has learned so far. It's always interesting to talk to him.

Describing a person’s character in English may require knowledge of many words, expand your vocabulary new vocabulary from video: