Lesson 43

Height /hait/ and weight /weit/

Bettina Schwenke is a very tall woman.
Tom Jakes is quite short.
If you aren't tall or short, you are of medium height.
Agata Sanchez is really slim.
I was very thin when I was in hospital.
(slim is more polite than thin]

The doctor said I am overweight. [weigh too much]
Their cat is very fat. It needs to go on a diet.

Face and head

Suri has dark skin and dark hair. She has brown eyes.
Polly has blonde (or fair) hair and fair skin. She has blue eyes.
Ben has a beard and long hair. He has green eyes.
Luca has a moustache /mu'sta: / and short hair.
You can also use has got, for example, Suri has got dark hair and dark skin.
My mother is a very beautiful woman. [very pretty]
My dad's a very good-looking man.

Common mistakes
People are tall [NOT People are High].
People have blonde or dark hair (NOT hairs].

My sister is pretty. (usually girls / women only)
Bob's an ugly man. ugly = the opposite of beautiful or good-looking]
I'm not ugly or beautiful, l'm just average-looking!

Age
My grandmother is 97. She's very old. My sister is 14. She's young, but would like to be older. My father is 56. He's middle-aged, but would like to be younger!
This hospital is for elderly people. (more polite than old)

Expressions
A: How tall is Bettina / Tom? B: She's 1.85 metres tall. / He's 1.48 metres tall.
A: How heavy are you? / How much do you weigh? B: I weigh 62 kilos / 74 kilos, etc.
A: How old is he? B: He's 84.
* What does Gemma / your sister look like?
* She's tall and dark. She's very pretty.

EP