Describing People, Places, and Things in English

Describing things is where conversations get interesting. Once you can say more than "it's good", you can tell stories, give opinions, and be understood properly.

Describing appearance

Height and build: tall, short, slim, well-built Hair: long, short, straight, curly, blonde, dark Age: young, middle-aged, elderly (politer than "old" for people)

We use have got / have for features and be for general qualities:

• She has long dark hair.
• She is tall.

Describing character

Positive	Negative
friendly	unfriendly
generous	mean
hard-working	lazy
patient	impatient
confident	shy
reliable	unreliable
easy-going	difficult

Note the pattern: many opposites just add un- or im-. But not all — the opposite of generous is mean, not "ungenerous".

A useful frame for character: He's the kind of person who always remembers your birthday.

Describing places

• Size: tiny, small, big, huge
• Atmosphere: quiet, busy, crowded, lively, peaceful
• Condition: modern, old, clean, dirty
• Opinion: beautiful, ugly, boring, interesting

It's a small, quiet town near the mountains.

Adjective order

When you use two or more adjectives, English has a fixed order. The full rule runs:

opinion → size → age → shape → colour → origin → material → purpose → noun

• ✅ a beautiful little old house
• ❌ an old little beautiful house
• ✅ a lovely big red car
• ✅ a small round wooden table

Native speakers don't learn this rule — they just hear it. If you're unsure, remember that opinion comes first and the material or purpose sits closest to the noun.

In practice, three adjectives in a row is rare. Two is normal, and beyond that English usually splits them up: a lovely old house, painted white.

The -ed / -ing trap

This is the most consequential mistake in the whole topic, because it changes the meaning rather than the style.

• -ing describes the thing: The film was boring.
• -ed describes the person's feeling: I was bored.

So ❌ I am boring says you are a dull person. The same split runs through interesting / interested, confusing / confused, surprising / surprised and the rest of the family.

Making descriptions stronger

Instead of adding very, use a stronger adjective:

Instead of	Say
very big	huge
very small	tiny
very good	excellent
very bad	awful
very tired	exhausted
very pretty	beautiful
very cold	freezing
very hungry	starving

Note: you can't say very huge or very excellent — these adjectives are already extreme. Use absolutely or completely instead: absolutely huge.

And softening one

The other direction is just as useful, and English speakers use it constantly:

• It's quite good. (fairly — in British English this can even mean "not very")
• It's a bit small. (slightly, and usually a criticism)
• It's not exactly cheap. (it's expensive — understatement)

Adjectives carry your attitude, not just information. Small and tiny describe the same flat; a bit small is a complaint and cosy is an estate agent's compliment. Choosing the adjective is choosing what you think of the thing.

Describing a flat you've just seen

A: What was it like?

B: Quite small, and a bit dark. But it's a lovely old building.

A: Were you disappointed?

B: A little. The photos were misleading — it looked huge online.

Quite and a bit to soften, the adjective order in lovely old building, and disappointed against misleading — the -ed and -ing pair doing exactly its job.

Try it yourself

The quiz below tests both the vocabulary and the word order.