The Body and Describing Appearance
Parts of the body, and the words you need to say what someone looks like — including the have / be split that trips learners up.
Body vocabulary earns its place twice over: you need it to describe people, and you need it the moment anything hurts.
The body
Head: hair, face, eye, ear, nose, mouth, tooth (teeth), neck Upper body: shoulder, arm, elbow, hand, finger, chest, back, stomach Lower body: leg, knee, foot (feet), toe
Two irregular plurals to watch: tooth → teeth, foot → feet.
Have or be?
This is the pattern that decides whether you sound natural.
have + a feature you possess:
She has long hair. · He has blue eyes. · They have a beard.
be + a quality you are:
She is tall. · He is slim. · They are in their thirties.
❌ She is long hair. → ✅ She has long hair. ❌ He has tall. → ✅ He is tall.
Height and build
tall · of medium height · short · slim · well-built · heavy
Careful with judgement: slim flatters, thin is neutral, skinny does not flatter. For weight, large is evasive and fat is blunt.
Hair
Order the words like this: length - style - colour
long straight black hair · short curly grey hair
Colours: blonde, brown, black, red, grey, white. Styles: straight, curly, wavy, bald.
Age
- She's in her twenties.
- He's about forty.
- a young man · a middle-aged woman · an elderly man
Elderly is the polite word; old used of a person can sound blunt.
Putting it together
He's tall and well-built, with short dark hair and a beard. He's probably in his forties.
One be, one have, and the hair order. That is a complete description.
Test yourself
The quiz below is mostly about have versus be.