Paragraph Structure
Descriptive Paragraph
• What is a Descriptive Paragraph?
A descriptive paragraph or essay is characterized by the use of Adjectives. It tells how something
looks, feels, smells, tastes, and/or sounds. A good description is a word picture; the reader can
imagine the object, place, or person in their mind. When describing a person, you should speak about
that person’s physical appearance and personality.
- What does s/he look like? (physically)
- How does s/he dress?
- What does s/he look like? (personality)
- What attracts you to that person?
- What do you like most about them?
To describe a person, you need to talk about their:
1. Physical appearance: the way they look like
- Height: tall, short, medium height…
- Build: frail, slim, thin, skinny, stocky, plump, fat, chubby, large, heavy, well-built, fit…
- Age: young, teenager, middle-aged, elderly…
- Face: round, oval, wrinkled, furrowed, dimpled, sun-tanned, fair-skinned, baby-faced,
chiseled…
- Eyes: big, round, blue, hazel, small, piggy, narrow, bloodshot…
- Hair: bald; straight, curly, spiky, wavy, black…
- Clothes: casual, shabby, bright, tidy, untidy, messy…
2. Personality: their psychological traits or attitudes:
Intelligent, witty, clever, gifted, brainy, shy, timid, introverted, extroverted, optimistic, pessimistic,
sensitive, sensible, relaxed, tense…
• An Example of a Descriptive Paragraph (Describing a Person):
(Topic Sentence) Bob is my best friend at school. (Supporting Sentences: Physical
Appearance) I’ve known him since primary school. He is a tall person with a strong body. He has a
round face with brown eyes. His hair is black and curly. Though young, he looks older than his age
because of some wrinkles on his face. He also has dimples on his cheeks which makes him look
handsome. Bob usually wears casual clothes. He is not keen on brands and fashion. (Supporting
Sentences: Personality) As for his personality, Bob is a shy and introverted person. He does not like
being around people. He is a brainy guy. We call him the geek because of his love for IT. Not to
mention that he is an honest and trustworthy person. (Concluding Sentence) To sum up, Bob is one
of the people I admire most.