English vocabulary - Martin Hunt 2016
4 Body (1)
In this unit you will learn
✵ parts of the face and the head
✵ words for colour, age, hair style
✵ how to ask questions about/describe a face
Basics
Do you know these words? Check in a dictionary and write the word in your language.
HEAD
Test your basics
Cover the words on page 26. Then write the English word in the space below.
1 head
Extension
Hair
✵ Length: hair can be long or short.
✵ Thickness: hair can be thick or it can be thin. If you have no hair, you are bald.
✵ [Colour/color]: hair can be fair, dark, blond, brown, black, [grey/gray], white or red.
✵ Style: hair can be straight, wavy or curly.
✵ A man can have a beard or a moustache, but most men are clean-shaven.
Eyes, mouth, lips
✵ Eye [colour/color]: green, blue, [grey/gray], brown.
✵ Eyes and mouth can be large, big or small.
✵ Lips can be thick or thin.
Nose, face, head, ears
✵ A nose can be big or small. It can also be long and thin.
✵ You can have a round, long or thin face. You can have a young face or an old face.
✵ You can have a big head or a small head.
✵ Ears can also be big or small.
✵ We can also use adjectives of character for a face: he has a kind face; he has a friendly face; he has an unfriendly face.
Modifiers
+ + Very
+ Quite
- Not very
Be careful of word order.
She has a very beautiful face. ✓ not: She has very a beautiful face. X
He has quite a big nose. ✓ not: He has quite a nose big. X
He doesn’t have a very big head. ✓ not: He doesn’t have very a big head. X
We use body part + too + adjective to make the sentence sound negative.
She has big eyes.
His ears are too big.
Grammar notes
Singular and plural
Be careful to use the correct form.
Singular Plural
He has a small nose. He has large eyes. (no article)
Phrases
✵ He/she [has got/has] (a) + adjective + noun(s)
Example: He has quite a young face, small ears, and lovely teeth.
✵ His/her + noun + is/are + adjective Example: Her nose is quite big.
Questions
✵ What [colour/color] is your hair/are your eyes?
✵ What is/are ... like?
Example: What’s her hair like? It’s long, blond and curly. What are his eyes like? They’re big and blue.
Practice
Exercise 1 The box below has nouns and adjectives. If you can use an adjective with a noun, put a ✓; if you cannot use that adjective with that noun, put a X.
eyes |
face |
hair |
lips |
|
big |
✓ |
X |
X |
✓ |
young |
||||
thick |
||||
blue |
||||
small |
||||
brown |
||||
thin |
||||
fair |
Exercise 2 Match the two parts of the sentences below.
Exercise 3 Look at the sentences below and decide if they are right or wrong. Then correct those that are wrong. For example:
You[’ve got/have] a very thin face. ✓
He[’s got/has] hair blond short. X He[’s got/has] short blond hair.
1 What [colour/color] is your eyes?
2 My father’s hair is very [grey/gray].
3 I don’t like my ears; they’re too big.
4 If’ve got/have] a big quite head.
5 What is her face like?
6 She[’s got/has] nice face, big blue eyes, and long dark hair.
7 Steve is a moustache and a beard.
8 I don’t like beards; I’m clean-shaven.
Now check your answers.
► Exercise 4 (Recordings 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5) Pronunciation practice. Listen and repeat the words on the recording. Use the transcript at the back of the book to help you if necessary.
In use
Reading
Before you start, check you know these words:
famous
skin
intelligent
smile
unhappy
Note: A portrait is a picture of someone, especially their face; a self-portrait is a picture you make of yourself.
Portraits. Read the descriptions below from a magazine article describing two pictures. Don’t worry about the words you don’t know.
A
How do you describe one of the most famous faces in the world? There she sits, this mysterious woman. Everyone knows her face, but no-one knows who she was. So, where to start? Well, she has a round face with beautiful skin. It is quite a young face, but it is impossible to say how old she is. Her nose is quite big, but it is not too big. She also has big, brown eyes which look out of the picture and straight at you. The eyes look very intelligent, as though she knows what you’re thinking. Her long, brown hair is quite thin and wavy. But it is her mouth that is most famous. Her thin lips are closed tightly together and she is smiling the most famous smile in the world.
В
He was one of the greatest artists the world has ever known, but he was so unhappy, and you can see that in his self-portraits. Now his face is famous. His head is not very big, but in this painting you can see a big left ear. He also has a big nose, while his blue eyes stare straight at you. You can see he’s not a man at peace with the world. His mouth has thick lips and is closed. He has short, straight, red hair, as well as a beard and moustache. You can’t help feeling sorry for this man.
Reading 1 Put the correct letter, A or B, next to each sentence below:
Which picture...
has thick lips? В
has brown eyes?
has a beard and moustache?
is unhappy?
is a woman?
has long hair?
has a smile?
has red hair?
Reading 2 Now take a piece of paper and try to draw the two faces. They are from two famous portraits - do you know who they are?
► Listening
Before you start, check you know these words:
funny
hate
make a joke
kind
Listen to this radio [programme/program] called What’s in a face? Each week someone describes a picture and what it means to them.
Listening 1 (Recording 4.6) Listen to the recording and put the parts of the body below in the order in which you first hear them. Be careful - one part is not mentioned.
ear |
face |
mouth |
|||
eye |
hair |
1 |
nose |
Listening 2 Put a ✓ next to the sentences you hear. Then listen to the recording again and see if you can correct the other sentences.
1 Well, his hair was still red then.
2 He has quite a thin face.
3 He’s always hated his ears.
4 He has big blue eyes.
5 You see a really kind face.
Now check your answers.
Recap
Here are the words we learned in this unit. Do you know them all? Write down the translations if necessary.
Parts of the body
head face eye
nose hair ear
cheek lip mouth
tooth (teeth)
Hair
long short straight
wavy curly bald
beard moustache clean-shaven
[Colours/Colors]
fair dark blond
brown black [grey/gray]
white red green
blue
Qualities
kind friendly unfriendly
too + adjective
Size
big large small
thick thin
Shape and age
round young old
Questions
What [colour/color]...? What is/are ... like?
What to do next
✵ Write a description of your own face.
✵ Write a description of a famous person’s face - see if other people can guess who it is.
✵ Look at other faces and describe them in English.
Why not try these units next?
✵ Body (2) • Clothes (1) and (2) • People and jobs
Answer key for this unit
Test your basics
Check your answers on page 36 (Basics).
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
1 She[’s got/has] beautiful eyes. (d)
2 She[’s got/has] a big nose. (f)
3 What [colour/color] are her eyes? Brown. (e)
4 He [has got/has] quite a thin face. (b)
5 What’s her hair like? Curly. (g)
6 You[’ve got/have] very thin lips. (a)
7 He [has got/has] a beard. (c)
Exercise 3
1 What [colour/color] is your eyes? X
What [colour/color] are your eyes?
2 My father’s hair is very [grey/gray]. ✓
3 I don’t like my ears; they’re too big. ✓
4 I[’ve got/have] a big quite head. X
I[’ve got/have] quite a big head.
5 What is her face like? ˅
6 She[’s got/has] nice face, big blue eyes, and long dark hair. X
She[’s got/has] a nice face, big blue eyes, and long dark hair.
7 Steve is a moustache and a beard. X
Steve has a moustache and a beard.
8 I don’t like beards; I’m clean-shaven. ✓
Reading
Reading 1
Which picture:
has thick lips? В
has brown eyes? A
has a beard and moustache? В
is unhappy? В
is a woman? A
has long hair? A
has a smile? A
has red hair? В
Reading 2
Listening
Listening 1
ear |
4 |
face |
2 |
mouth |
X |
eye |
5 |
hair |
1 |
nose |
3 |
Listening 2
1 Well, his hair was still red then. X
Well, his hair was still brown then.
2 He has quite a thin face. ✓
3 He’s always hated his ears. X
He’s always hated his nose.
4 He has big blue eyes. ✓
5 You see a really kind face. ✓