The Flatmates: Language Point: Describing People

THE FLATMATES
Language point:
Describing people
BBC Learning English – The Flatmates
The Flatmates - Language point – Describing people
You can see this language point online at:

http://www.bbclearningenglish.com/flatmates/episode01/languagepoint.shtml
To talk about people's appearance or personality we can use:

be + adjective
Verb: Adjective
To be
I'm slim
He's well-built
She's matronly
You're handsome
We're extroverted
They're shy
To talk about physical characteristics you can use:

have got + (adjective) + noun
Verb: (adjective)
Have got + noun
I've got hazel eyes
He's got a shaved head
She's got gorgeous black hair
You've got a five o'clock shadow
We've green eyes
They've got long legs
Some adjectives have a negative connotation (or feeling) and some are more
neutral:
Negative Neutral
fat plump or large
skinny slim
spinster single
To ask about someone's appearance you can use:

do + look like?
What Verb: Look like?
To do
do I look like?
do you
does he/she/it
do we
do they
The Flatmates © BBC Learning English

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bbclearningenglish.com/flatmates/archivelanguagepoint.shtml
To ask about someone's personality you can use:

be + like?
Verb: Like?
To do
What am I like?
are you
is he/she/it
are we
are they
Vocabulary:
a five o'clock shadow:
a kind of beard or moustache (but not a full beard or moustache) that a man gets if he
hasn't shaved for a day or two
matronly (adj):
an older woman who is plump
bald (adj):
a person with no hair. A person can have a shaved head if s/he is bald or if s/he has
hair but chooses to shave it off
extroverted (adj):
a confident person who enjoys being with other people
Would you like to try an online quiz about this language point? Go to:
http://www.bbclearningenglish.com/flatmates/episode01/quiz.shtml
Or you can download the quiz from:

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode01/quiz.pdf

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THE FLATMATES
Quiz:
Compound words
The Flatmates - Language point – Compound words
You can see this Language Point online
Compound words can be made up of two (or sometimes more) separate words. You can
combine nouns (a flatmate), adjectives (lovesick) or verbs (jump-start) to make
compound words.
Sometimes they become one word:
flatmate (noun) lovesick (adjective)
Sometimes they become two words:
tourist guide (noun) travel agent (noun)
Sometimes they become hyphenated:
low-paid (adjective) film-goer (noun)
There are no hard and fast rules about which category each compound word goes into
but a good dictionary will tell you. You can also help yourself by making a note of new
compound words you come across and the category they go into.
Generally the stress is on the first word:
phone box (noun) smoke-free (adjective) spoon-feed (verb)
Vocabulary:
a flatmate (n):
a person who shares a rented house or flat with other people
lovesick (adj):
a feeling of such strong emotion for someone that it makes you feel almost ill (but not
actually physically ill)
a tourist guide (n):

someone who shows visitors around places of interest
to spoon-feed (v):
to feed someone (usually a baby) with a spoon or to give someone so much information
or help that a task or job is very easy for them

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bbclearningenglish.com/flatmates/archivequiz.shtml


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bbclearningenglish.com/flatmates/archivequiz.shtml
THE FLATMATES
Language point:
Buying drinks
The Flatmates - Language point – Buying drinks

Most people in the UK drink in pubs with their family and friends. They usually drink
beer, wine, spirits or soft (non-alcoholic drinks).
Beer can be lager (fizzy and light) or bitter (non-fizzy and dark).
Amount or container Drink

A bottle of beer
A pint of lager
A half-pint of bitter
A half of shandy
Wine is usually served in pubs by the glass but you can also order a bottle to share with
friends.
Wine can be described by is colour (red, white or rosé) and its taste (sweet or dry).
Wine is usually non-fizzy but champagne is fizzy white wine.
Amount or container Drink

A bottle of wine
A glass of champagne
A large glass of dry white wine
Spirits (whisky, gin, vodka, rum etc.) are usually ordered by the glass or by the
measure (a single or a double) but never by the bottle in a pub.
Spirits can be ordered with a mixer (water, lemonade, etc.), just with ice or sometimes
with nothing at all.
Amount Drink Mixer

A whisky
A large vodka and coke
A double rum with ice
Vocabulary:
a shandy (n):
a drink made by mixing lager with lemonade
to buy a round (v):

often when people are in a group, each person takes it in turn to buy drinks for everyone
in the group

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It's my/your/her/his round
I'll buy everyone in this group a drink
addressing people informally:

If people know each other very well or if one person is much older than the other one,
you might hear them addressing each other informally using love, dear, hen, or pet.
But it's not usually appropriate for a man to use these terms with a woman, in the way
that Tim does with Alice


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THE FLATMATES
Language point:
Stative verbs
1
The Flatmates - Language point – Stative verbs

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode04/languagepoint.shtml
Stative (or state) verbs describe states (things that don't change easily or quickly, for
example, what you believe, think or own) rather than actions (jump, talk or buy).
Stative verbs are not normally used in the continuous form (ing).
Stative verbs can be grouped into these categories:
Verbs of emotion:
care feel hate
like loathe love
need prefer want
Verbs of ownership:
own have possess
Verbs of the mind:

believe mean suppose
forget realise understand
know remember doubt
Verbs of the senses – often used with "can":

hear see smell
taste touch
Other verbs:
contain depend matter
Some of these stative verbs can be used in the continuous form but their meaning will
change. For example:
to think:
Do you think so? (Stative - Is that your opinion? Is that the state of your belief?)
He's thinking about his friends in Poland (Dynamic - The action of thinking. His friends
are in his thoughts, in his mind right now, but he might be thinking of something else
soon).
to have:
He has got brown eyes (Stative - He possesses brown eyes. The colour is unlikely to
change).
He's having a pint of beer (Dynamic - The action of drinking. He might be drinking
something else soon).

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to see:
I don't see what you mean. (Stative - I don't understand what you mean).
She is seeing him next week. (Dynamic - She is meeting him).
Vocabulary:
daft (adj, informal):
stupid or silly
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/flatmates/episode04/quiz.shtml


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The Flatmates: Language Point: Describing People

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THE FLATMATES

The Flatmates - Language point – Describing people

You can see this language point online at:

To talk about people's appearance or personality we can use:

To talk about physical characteristics you can use:

To ask about someone's appearance you can use:

The Flatmates © BBC Learning English

To ask about someone's personality you can use:

Or you can download the quiz from:

The Flatmates © BBC Learning English

The Flatmates - Language point – Compound words

You can see this Language Point online

Sometimes they become one word:

flatmate (noun) lovesick (adjective)

Sometimes they become two words:

tourist guide (noun) travel agent (noun)

Sometimes they become hyphenated:

low-paid (adjective) film-goer (noun)

Generally the stress is on the first word:

phone box (noun) smoke-free (adjective) spoon-feed (verb)

a tourist guide (n):

The Flatmates © BBC Learning English

Or you can download the quiz from:

The Flatmates © BBC Learning English

You can see this language point online at:

Amount or container Drink

Amount or container Drink

Amount Drink Mixer

to buy a round (v):

The Flatmates © BBC Learning English

addressing people informally:

Or you can download the quiz from:

The Flatmates © BBC Learning English

The Flatmates - Language point – Stative verbs

You can see this language point online at:

Stative verbs can be grouped into these categories:

Verbs of the mind:

Verbs of the senses – often used with "can":

The Flatmates © BBC Learning English

Or you can download the quiz from:

The Flatmates © BBC Learning English

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