Describing People writing tips

Describing how people look
• You can say that someone has brown hair, blue eyes etc. Another way to say
this is to use with, for example: a man with brown hair or a girl with blue eyes.
In written descriptions you can also use adjectives such as dark-haired or
brown-eyed, for example: a dark-haired man in his late 30s.

• Don't use too many short sentences. For example, don't write things like 'He is
tall. He has dark hair and bright blue eyes. He has a small moustache.'
It sounds much more natural to link your description together into a longer
sentence: He is tall, with dark hair, bright blue eyes, and a small moustache.

• Don’t say ‘She has dark/long hairs.’ Say She has long dark hair.
• Don’t say ‘He has black eyes’. Say He has dark brown eyes.

• In spoken British English, people often say has got instead of has/have, for
example:You've got beautiful eyes.
In written descriptions, people usually use has/have. Note that when talking or
writing about the past, you should always use had, not 'had got'.

• There are several ways of describing someone’s age. If you know exactly, you
can say, for example, He is 22 years old. If you are not sure, you can say He’s
about 20 or He’s in his early twenties. In more informal English you can say
He looks twentyish.

• Don't say 'He is ten years.' Say He is ten. or He is ten years old.

• When you are describing someone's clothes, you can say someone is wearing
a black jacket and a denim skirt, or someone is dressed in a black jacket and
a denim skirt. Another way to say this is to use in, for example a man in a
black jacket.

In more informal English, people often say that someone has something on,
for example: She had a black jacket and a denim skirt on or She had on a long
green dress.

(Source: Longman Writing Coach 2005)