English Speaking Exercises for A1 – Describing people

1. Look at photos A and B. Complete the sentences with the words below.

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beard     dark     fair     glasses     moustache     short

1 Photo A: He’s got ____________, ____________ hair and ____________

2 Photo B: He’s got ____________ hair, a ____________ and a ____________

Show answers

1) short, dark, glasses 2) fair, beard, moustache

Speaking Strategy

–  Speak in a loud, clear voice.

–  Look at the other person when he or she is speaking to you and when you are speaking to him or her.

–  Listen very carefully to everything the other person says so that you can reply appropriately.

2. Read the Speaking Strategy. Then look at photos C and D. Listen and correct the sentences.

She’s got dark hair

She hasn’t got dark hair. She’s got fair hair.

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Photo C:

2) She hasn’t got long hair. She’s got short hair.

3) She hasn’t got curly hair. She’s got straight hair.

Photo D:

1) She hasn’t got medium-length hair. She’s got long hair.

2) She hasn’t got straight hair. She’s got curly hair.

3) She hasn’t got dark hair. She’s got fair hair.

Transcript

Photo C

1) She’s got dark hair.

2) She’s got long hair.

3) She’s got curly hair.

Photo D

1) She’s got medium-length hair.

2) She’s got straight hair.

3) She’s got dark hair.

3. Write a sentence describing the people in photos C and D.

1) _____.

2) _____.

Show answers

your own answers

4. Listen to a conversation at a party. Look at the photo below. Label the people with the names below.

Camilla     George     Marcus     Zoe

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Show answers

Left to right: CamillaMarcusZoeGeorge

Transcript

Boy Where’s Marcus?

Girl I don’t know. Who is Marcus?

b Oh, you don’t know him?

g No.

b Oh, there he is.

g Where?

b Over there, at the table.

g With curly, dark hair?

b No, with short, dark hair and a white T-shirt.

g Oh, yes. I see him. He looks nice.

b He is. He’s in class at school. Do you want to meet him?

g Maybe later. So, who’s the boy with curly dark hair?

b That’s George.

g And who’s that next to Marcus? The girl with the long, dark hair.

b There are two girls with long dark hair. The girl on his right is Camilla. And the girl on the other side, next to George, is Zoe.

5. Read the task and look at the photo below. Make notes describing the people. Include information about appearance (hair, face, clothes) and position (next to ___ , between ___ , and ___ ).

Describe the four people labelled in the photo.

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Max   He’s got short ________

He’s next to ________

A ________

__________

Toby ________

__________

Charlotte ________

__________

Show answers

your own answers

6. Now to the task in exercise 5 using your notes.

Show answers

your own answers

Extra exercises

Strategy

We usually describe people in the following order: 1 body shape, 2 hair and eyes, 3 other features (glasses, moustache, etc.), 4 clothes.

1. Read the Strategy. The put the sentences in the correct order (1-4).

What does Erik look like?

__   He’s got short blond hair and blue eyes.

__   His trousers are black and he’s got a red T-shirt.

__   He’s very tall – about 190 cm – and he’s quite thin.

__   He’s got a blond beard and a moustache.

Show answers

1) He’s very tall – about 190 cm – and he’s quite thin.

2) He’s got short, blond hair and blue eyes.

3) He’s got a blond beard and moustache.

4) His trousers are black and he’s got a red T-shirt.

2. Read the exam task. Decide who is Student A and who is Student B. Follow the instructions.

Students A and B: Write down the names of three famous people, but don’t let your partner see.

Student A: Ask Student B to describe the first person. Try to guess the name.

Student B: Describe your first person.

Change roles and continue describing the people and guessing their names.

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