Vocabulary in action

 

 

Very often, you will be required to describe people, places, events or an experience that you have had.  This can be in an examination situation or in a social situation when you are just talking to people.  In order to describe anything effectively, you must have a wide vocabulary.  You must be especially able to use verbs, adverbs, adjectives and imagery aptly and with confidence.  This section contains many examples of good descriptive sentences.  It is hoped that you will be inspired by them to be more adventurous in your own descriptions of people, places and things.  Your descriptive sentences should communicate information accurately and be interesting, even exciting.

 

 

1.         SOME DESCRIPTIONS OF PEOPLE

 

            (a)        The face:

 

·         His profile was sensitive and delicate with an expression of patience and gentleness.

·         His face was large and good-humoured.

·         He wore an expression of great good nature.

·         He had pale brown hair inclined to curl, and a pair of honest brown eyes.

·         His grey hair was sticking out and his red face seemed to be swollen with anger.

·         He had a surly face with a bull-neck, overhanging temples, and his hair was cut close all round his head.

·         She had a shock of untidy black hair, brown eyes, thin bony face, and an unexpected charming smile.

·         He has a broad face with high cheek bones.

·         His face is round with a blotchy complexion.

 

           

            (b)        Dress:

 

·         People dressed in bright, lurid colours, tight long skirts and oversized shirts.

·         He was clad in a loose cotton jacket over a voluminous shirt.

·         She wore an ostentatious evening gown that looked like molten gold.

·         He was dressed in a bedraggled suit of khaki.

·         He was wearing a bright red cotton shirt and a heavy                                corduroy jacket and solid shoes with thick soles.

·         He was untidily, even shabbily dressed.

·         He was well dressed, but his brilliant necktie, shining pin and                    glittering rings were flamboyant in their effect.

 

 

            (c)        Voice:

 

·         Her voice was loud and dictatorial.

·         She has a deep, authoritative voice.

·         His voice was dry and caustic.

·         His voice was tremulous as he spoke.

·         There was a note of self-satisfaction in his voice.

·         Her voice was full, rich and seductive.

·         He had a deep bass voice.

 

            (d)        General appearance:

 

·         She had a general air of vitality and good health.

·         She was in the bloom of her maturity, a strong straight figure of beautiful carriage.

·         She was light on her feet despite her corpulence.

·         He was a lively, articulate boy with inquisitive eyes.

 

 

2.         CHARACTER

 

·         Decisive action had always been his forte.

·         He had always been a detached figure, standing aloof from his                            fellow men.

·         He had two of the saddest eyes in the world and looked like he was                     suffering from a persecution complex.

·         His cold-blooded callousness was staggering.

·         She was a lady of unimpeachable breeding and social standing.

·         He had an impetuous nature and a rough exterior.

·         He had a sense of ready wit, gaiety and infectious cheerfulness.

·         Her cautiousness rubs off on me and helps me to get through                 difficult situations, and my outgoing nature rubs off on her, helping her to be less shy.

·         She succumbed to temptation easily.

·         He had the knack of making people feel good about themselves.

·         They were rude, inconsiderate and unpleasant to look at.

·         He was capable of furious profanity when provoked.

·         He was an eccentric but inoffensive figure.

 

3.         EMOTION

 

·         A haunted haze of fear surrounded him.

·         His chest swelled with patriotic fervour.

·         He could bear calamities with fortitude.

·         Terror gripped his whole being and perspiration started dripping from his forehead.

·         A wave of futile rage swept over him.

·         They stared at him in blank amazement.

·         Terror seized us all.

·         He began to entertain serious doubts about himself.

·         Panic engulfed him.

·         A chill ran swiftly up his back causing the nape of his neck to tingle.

·         The shock robbed him of speech.

·         No words could express the secret agony of my soul.

·         They were saturated with happiness.

·         She sat down and pondered her predicament.

·         I was sick to my stomach at the sight.

·         I woke up sobbing, drenched in sweat and paralysed with fear.

·         I was powerless, frantic with terror.

 

 

4.         ACTION

 

Good description of action depends on well chosen verbs and adverbs. This is

illustrated in the following sentences:

 

·         He coaxed the bird gently, patiently and it fluttered down to him.

·         Savagely he put the car into motion and hurtled ahead.

·         When the food was put before the prisoner, he ate voraciously.

·         She beckoned imperiously to her maid and in a minute or two, her   maid came to her.

·         We both pleaded guilty rather shamefacedly.

·         He poured out his gratitude profusely.

·         I rose shakily to my feet.

·         He glanced down the road apprehensively.

·         He was smiling enigmatically to himself.

·         The frightened child was screaming incoherently.

·         Clutching the smouldering joss-sticks, he prayed fervently.

·         He was floundering around helplessly in the water.

·         Perfume wafted delicately across the room towards us.

·         An agonising wail issued from the hound before it was thrown                  bodily aside.

·         The shark could easily tear the frail raft to shreds.

·         The stranger moved restlessly in his seat and gesticulated freely.

·         The ship was tossed and buffeted about helplessly by the mighty   waves.

·         I gave him a conspiratorial smile.

·         He moved closer to the roaring fire, letting the heat work into his   frozen bones.

·         He drew in his breath with a long hiss.

·         I prepared savoury food to beguile his palate.

·         The cup was smashed to smithereens when it was dropped.

·         The very young and the old succumbed to exhaustion quickly.

·         She trekked into the wilds of Alaska in pursuit of adventure.

·         She rummaged frantically in her handbag for some money.

 

 

 

 

5.         PHYSICAL REACTIONS

 

·         There was a burning sensation in my throat that forced me to cough.

·         He was becoming dizzy and nauseated.

·         I experienced a nasty feeling of weakness, as though I was going to   faint.

·         The room tilted and swirled before my eyes.

·         He hit the fence and the gate shuddered and groaned.

·         The minutes ticked by and soon his eye started to droop sleepily.

·         I remained prostrate with fatigue and sleep soon overtook me.

·         He was getting progressively drunk and boisterous.

·         His hands were shaking uncontrollably and an occasional violent   tremor racked his entire body.

·         It gave him a pleasant sensation of walking on air.

 

6.         SCENERY

 

            Scenery can be beautiful or dull, soft or harsh.

 

            (a)        Examples of a beautiful scenery:

 

·         Beautiful beaches encircled the island.

·         I paused to look at the gay flowers that rioted in the garden.

·         In the distance towered a snow-capped, beautifully symmetrical volcanic mountain.

·         Low hills ringed the valley, rolling away into a blue haze of high mountain peaks.

·         Washed and dusted, the trees glittered, and the hordes of parrots came back to flash their rainbow bodies amid the timber, more loquacious than before.

           

            (b)        Examples of dull scenery:

 

·         The grey brown land was devoid of life except for an occasional snake.

·         The recent rains had dampened the wild flowers in the fields and they now looked battered and bedraggled.

·         The countryside was awash with sheeting rain, howling with    boisterous winds, and robbed of all colour by the ashen skies.

 

 

            (c)        Examples of soft scenery:

 

·         The Atlantic spread out before them like a piece of pale blue china.

·         Chimney smoke arched and danced in the wind under a blue sky.

·         The sun shone more kindly now, and the trees which framed the scene were golden and lovely.

·         A gentle breeze came up to spin white drifts of sea water over the beach.

 

            (d)        Examples of harsh scenery:

 

·         They were halted by a seemingly insurmountable rocky mountain range.

·         Gigantic waves crashed on the rocks around us in a pandemonium of sound.

·         The rock was hard as flint, and a fall would have meant serious lacerations and broken bones.

 

7.         NATURAL PHENOMENA

 

The sky and clouds, sunrise and sunset, lightning and thunder, wind and rain often inspire good descriptions.

 

            (a)        The sky and clouds:

 

·         The high sunlit clouds drifted across a clear blue sky.

·         The sky above was full of tumultuous, dark, ragged clouds.

·         A sky of mackerel clouds, crimson and amber-tinted.

·         It was a grey afternoon with a dull sky threatening rain.

·         A cloud, ominous and black, drifted over the mountain and released a sudden shower.

 

 

            (b)        Sunrise and sunset:

           

·         The sun rose in a pool of crimson and gold, spilling light all over the land and the white clouds.

·         From freezing night, it turned to scorching day as the sun climbed towards its zenith.

·         As the sun set, the few thin strips of clouds on the horizon turned shimmering gold.

·         It was a lovely walk, with the sun setting behind the mountain in a sea of liquid gold.

·         The sunsets have been glorious lately, all rosy and salmon- pink.

 

            (c)        Lightning and thunder:

 

·         Thunder came marching from far away with increasing tread.

·         Lightning and thunder raged with fury.

·         A flash of forked lightning and a great clap of thunder came close upon each other.

·         A bolt of lightning tore across the sky and a peal of thunder followed.

 

           

 

 

 

 

(d)        Wind and rain:

 

·         The wind was sighing and thrashing in the tree tops and the boughs moaned.

·         The morning was cold and wet with a brisk wind sweeping the rain across the land.

·         A curtain of rain beat down from the heavens.

 

            (e)        The moon:

·         The moon was abnormally large and it bathed the earth with its luminous glow.

 

8.         ATMOSPHERE

 

·         It was a blindingly hot day and the humidity in the air was stifling.

·         The evening was very still and the darkness carried the faint perfume of flowers and the scent of the dew-rinsed earth.

·         The seconds merged into minutes and the minutes into hours as the prisoner waited for his execution.

·         We could hear the chorus of frogs from the creek, and the myriad softer sounds that stir in the night.

·         The atmosphere in the dance hall was saturated with music and sweet perfume.

·         The air was heavy with dust beaten up by the soldiers.

 

9.         THINGS

 

·         Mangled corpses littered the battlefield.

·         The stench from the rubbish dump was nauseating.

·         The little house was desolate and sterile, full of grief and   wretchedness.

·         What had once been a flower bed was now scarcely recognizable  under the rampant growth of weeds.

·         It was a well-built, characterless modern house.

·         A row of dilapidated shop houses was gutted in the fire.

·         Fireworks blossomed in the night sky, turning to giant flowers of  pink, orange and green.

·         The deserted house looked eerie and ominous.

·         The road snaked along the plain into the horizon.

·         The fair was in full swing and the stalls were dressed in gorgeous colours.

·         Light came in through windows fogged with smoke and grime.

·         Pink papaya, golden pineapple, glistening watermelon slices, heaps  of pomelos and starfruit were spread under the lamps of the stalls.

·         It was a sleepy little settlement with only a handful of houses.

·         She walked past windswept bushes and what looked like a  dilapidated barn of blackened wood.

·         Glass can be so beautiful, so exquisite.

The house on the hill commanded a glorious view of the sea