Describing pictures: SOME ADVICE He/She/It must be…
1. Your first impressions of the photo. Why did you He/She/It might be / could be…
choose it? What attracted your attention? Did it It could be that…
bring any memories to your mind? It is possible that…
2. Describe the basic elements of the photo, even if Hopefully, he will…
they seem obvious. Describe the details (Eg.: This
photo is very colourful; There is a lot going on / Describing locations
happening in this photo…) The atmosphere is…
3. If you cannot think of what to say, remember to Everything seems + to infinitive…
explain: who (who is in the photo?), where (Where He/She/It looks + adjective…
are they?), when (maybe something related to the There’s a feeling of…
weather or the season of the year), what (What There are lots of…
are they doing?), how (how do you think they In the background / foreground there is / are…
feel?) and why (why do you think that they are in At the bottom of the picture you can see…
this situation?) In the middle of the picture there is…
4. Prepare something about the story behind the On the left / right you can see…
photo: the photographer, the moment in history it This picture shows…
shows. It is full of … (movement / colour / anger / happiness…)
It reminds me of …
Parts of the description: It is a good place for…
1. Introduction. (point 1 above) You can see…
2. Body (points 2 & 3 above)
3. Conclusion: why is this photo relevant? (point 4). Describing people
You can also speak about what happened after He looks…
the photo was taken –if you know–or you can She appears…
imagine it. He seems…
She has got a … face
EXPRESSION: The people in the picture look as if…
Use expressions like well, actually, you know to The girl in red is…
hesitate and gain time. The person on the left / right / centre…
Describe even obvious things, including basic Clothes: Different prepositions are used to describe the
elements. This is a photo of a / some…; This photo clothes that people have on:
shows; In this photo, I can see… On: have got + on (the noun phrase after on is usually
Describe things using words you know; if you don’t omitted)
know the precise name of something in the photo, Eg: She’s got a straw hat on (her head).
think of an alternative way of describing it (Eg: it’s a In:
place where kings and queens live – palace; I don’t Eg: he’s the one in a blazer.
know what it is called but there’s an object / person With: It replaces who has got
that looks like…) or use expressions like sort of, kind Eg: She’s the woman with a straw hat.
of (Eg: It’s a sort of huge house=palace). On = She’s the woman who has got a straw hat on.
The in-phrase comes before the with-phrase.
Expressing opinions Eg: She’s the one in red shoes with a blazer on.
If you ask me…
I think (that)… Describing what you can see
In my opinion… The picture shows…
I feel that… You can see…
I believe that… There’s / There are…
I like / don’t like it because… There seems to be (a)…
I guess… In the foreground / background, there’s / there are…
I suppose… Use the present continuous: The people in the picture are
…ing.
Expressing possibility
It looks as if…
He/She is probably…
Maybe/perhaps they are…
They are definitely…
They seem to be…