描写是让对话变得有趣的起点。一旦你能说的不再只是「这很好」,你就能讲故事、表达看法,并且被人正确理解。
描写外貌
身高和体型外观: tall, short, slim, well-built 头发: long, short, straight, curly, blonde, dark 年龄: young, middle-aged, elderly(用来形容人时比「old」更礼貌)
描写特征用 have got / have,描写整体状态用 be:
- She has long dark hair.
- She is tall.
描写性格
| 正面 | 负面 |
|---|---|
| friendly | unfriendly |
| generous | mean |
| hard-working | lazy |
| patient | impatient |
| confident | shy |
| reliable | unreliable |
| easy-going | difficult |
留意其中的规律:很多反义词是靠前缀 un- 或 im- 构成的。但并非全部如此:generous 的反义词是 mean,而不是「ungenerous」。
描写性格时有一个好用的句型:He's the kind of person who always remembers your birthday.
描写地点
- 大小: tiny, small, big, huge
- 氛围: quiet, busy, crowded, lively, peaceful
- 状态: modern, old, clean, dirty
- 评价: beautiful, ugly, boring, interesting
It's a small, quiet town near the mountains.
形容词的排列顺序
当句子里有多个形容词时,英语对排列顺序有一套固定的规则。完整规则是这样的:
评价 → 大小 → 年龄 → 形状 → 颜色 → 来源 → 材料 → 用途 → 名词
- ✅ a beautiful little old house
- ❌ an old little beautiful house
- ✅ a lovely big red car
- ✅ a small round wooden table
母语者并不是靠背这条规则,而是靠「听感」来判断顺序对不对。如果拿不准,记住两点就够了:评价永远排在最前面,而材料或用途永远最靠近名词。
在实际使用中,连用三个形容词的情况很少见。两个是常态,再多的话,英语通常会把它们拆开:a lovely old house, painted white。
-ed 和 -ing 的陷阱
这是整个主题里最要命的错误,因为它改变的不是语体,而是意思。
- -ing 描写的是事物本身:The film was boring.
- -ed 描写的是*人的感受*:I was bored.
也就是说,❌ I am boring 的意思其实是「我是个无聊的人」。同样的区分也适用于 interesting / interested、confusing / confused、surprising / surprised 等一整个词族。
如何加强描写的语气
与其一味加 very,不如换成一个语气更强的形容词:
| 普通说法 | 更地道的说法 |
|---|---|
| very big | huge |
| very small | tiny |
| very good | excellent |
| very bad | awful |
| very tired | exhausted |
| very pretty | beautiful |
| very cold | freezing |
| very hungry | starving |
需要注意:不能说 very huge 或 very excellent——这些形容词本身已经是极限程度了。这时要用 absolutely 或 completely:absolutely huge。
如何减弱语气
反方向同样有用,母语者也一直在用:
- It's quite good.(相当不错——在英式英语里,这有时甚至暗示「也就那样」)
- It's a bit small.(有点小,通常带着一丝抱怨)
- It's not exactly cheap.(意思是贵,但用的是轻描淡写的说法)
形容词传递的是你的态度,而不只是信息。 Small 和 tiny 可以描写同一套公寓;a bit small 是抱怨,而 cosy 是中介说出来的恭维话。选哪个形容词,其实就是在表明你对这件事物的态度。
聊起刚看过的一套公寓
A: What was it like?
B: Quite small, and a bit dark. But it's a lovely old building.
A: Were you disappointed?
B: A little. The photos were misleading — it looked huge online.
减弱语气的 Quite 和 a bit、lovely old building 里的词语顺序,以及严格遵循 -ed / -ing 规则的一对 disappointed / misleading。
自测一下
下面的测验会同时考察词汇和形容词语序。