1. Name the theme of the picture. This picture is on the subject / topic / issue of... (entertainment; sport; hobbies; environment; shopping etc.).
2. Say where it was taken. It was (probably) taken inside / outside...
3. Say where the action is happening. In this picture the action is taking place in. (the house; the living room; the gym; the swimming pool; the theme park etc.).
4. Describe the background. In the background of this picture there is / are; I can see / make out... (some pieces of furniture; sports equipment; some people doing shopping etc.).
5. Describe the foreground. In the foreground I can see... (some children; a family; a shop assistant etc.).
6. Describe what the people are doing. Looking at these people I get the impression that they are... (having dinner; watching a film; having a break; doing their homework etc.)
7. What the people look like. (Age / height / build / hair / eyes / nose / mouth / special features / general impression)
8. What the people are wearing. (Casually / formally-dressed; the description of pieces of clothes)
9. How the people are feeling. (Bored / annoyed / upset / sad / miserable / lonely / unhappy / depressed / confused / furious / angry / relaxed / concentrated / worried / happy / tired / interested / puzzled / confident / interested / excited / calm / pleased / thrilled / relieved / amazed)
Speculate about the people and objects in the picture.
She can be.... She appears/seems to be.... He must be crazy about... -ing. She could love... -ing.
Probably, his greatest love is.... He may spend all his time... -ing. It looks as if . Its probably/ perhaps a .
11. Describe the season / weather. I think / suppose / guess it's summer / spring / winter / autumn since...
12. Talk about the atmosphere. The atmosphere in the picture is... (friendly, peaceful, relaxing, tense, busy, warm, cozy, happy etc.).
13. Talk about your personal attitude to the picture. How the picture makes you feel. Personally I, / As for me, / Frankly speaking, I like this picture as it is bright and colourful, full of positive emotions, etc.). Generally speaking, this picture doesn't appeal to me because... (this activity is not my cup of tea / I hate doing....... .).
I've chosen the first photo when I was in..... It was..... In the photo you can see..... They are....-ing. Some of them are....
I took the photo because I found the scene/ scenery / setting / situation really funny / picturesque / shocking / unreal... And I know, you're fond of everything like that /of everything funny /... unusual... That's why I decided to show the picture to you.
I took this photo because it shows a typical way of...... I've decided to show this photo to my friend because I know she/he likes...... and it will be interesting for him/her to......
Other ways to say:
Bad awful, terrible, horrible, horrific, dreadful, outrageous, shameful, disgraceful, nasty, unpleasant, rotten, mean, dull, boring
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Good wonderful, pleasant, marvelous, exceptional, great, superior, fantastic, incredible, super, excellent, amazing, outstanding, remarkable, stupendous, splendid, perfect, superb, magnificent, divine, charming, admirable, fascinating
Big huge, gigantic, giant, enormous, large, massive, colossal, immense, bulky, hefty, tremendous, jumbo
Little small, tiny, teeny, petite, miniature, itsy-bitsy, miniscule, mini, microscopic, skimpy, wee
Happy glad, joyful, cheerful, jolly, delighted, pleased, content, jovial, amused, merry, elated
Sad depressed, gloomy, miserable, cheerless, unhappy, dejected, forlorn, sorrowful, upset, downcast, tearful, somber, blue, heartbroken, wretched
Funny comical, hilarious, entertaining, humorous, amusing, whimsical, witty, gleeful, laughable
Nice kind, sweet, friendly, loving, cool, awesome, lovely, enjoyable, pleasing, gracious, admirable, cordial
Pretty beautiful, gorgeous, appealing, cute, lovely, exquisite, attractive, handsome, dazzling
Like admire, approve, adore, treasure, fancy, marvel, appreciate, respect, cherish, favour, desire, enjoy, prefer
Look gaze, glance, observe, stare, spy, inspect, notice, glare, watch
Comparing and contrasting
| Comparing (similarities) | Comparing (differences) contrasting |
| too, as well, also, in the same way, in a similar way, so do/ did/ is/ was, as do/ did/ is/ was, like, Likewise, in common, resemble, resemblance, share, similar, similarity and the same Similar determiners, e.g. both, all, neither and none Phrases for summarizing: They are virtually identical if we look at, They are almost exactly the same in terms of,There are more similarities than differences, Another/ An additional (more subtle) similarity is | Contrasting linking expressions like but, whereas, though, although, while, on the other hand, in (complete) contrast and unlike Expressions based on nouns, adjectives and verbs, e.g. differ, difference, different, contrast, comparison, compare Phrases for summarizing: They are really quite different because and One of the few differences is The most striking/ most obvious/ most important/ most apparent/ only/ main difference is far/ much bigger, substantially more important, and slightly more rapidly (far/ slightly) less and (not) (nearly/ quite) asas |
| Absolutely identical/ Exactly the same /Practically the same/ Almost the same/ Almost identical/ Only slightly different Very similar/ More or less the same/ Quite similar/ Fairly similar | Completely different/ Totally different An absolutely huge difference/ A big difference/ A great difference / A substantial difference A slight difference/ A small difference/ A tiny difference A striking difference between / The only difference between |
| Similarly (likewise) , .56% of the male respondents answered negatively. Similarly, 34% of female respondents said they would never give up smoking. Analogies between - Our CEO made an analogy between sport and business. | Contrast between , .There is a contrast between country life and city life. To be (more) likely to , .Women are more likely to shop in this mall than men. Conversely (vice versa) .Conversely, men will do shopping at that mall across the street. Unlike .Unlike your brother I work as a manager. Whereas .Nurses salaries have risen substantially, whereas teachers pay has not changed a bit. In comparison with / to - In comparison to / with the last film I saw this comedy was awful. As compared to - 35% of teenagers smoke, as compared to 45% adults. The distinction between - Do you have the same distinction between amateurish and professional sport as we do? |
1. I'd like to give a talk on From my experience, some of us don't think about it a lot, but others are... In both photos I can see...
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2. In the first one I can see... It might be I'm not sure but... As I see it,...
3. The other photo is similar/ different. It must be... It looks as if... As far as I'm concerned,...
4. One of the main differences between X and Y is that X is completely/entirely/totally different from Y in that Unlike X, Y is... While/Whereas/Although X is..., Y is... X is a little/ slightly/ somewhat/ a great deal bigger than Y. X is not quite/nearly as (comfortable/expensive/ convenient) as Y because... X is virtually/exactly the same as Y when it comes to...
5. So, these two photos illustrate two different ideas of... (These two photographs show different ways of ) Having compared the two pictures, I'd say that the number of differences between them is (larger than/smaller than/approximately equal to) that of similarities. From my point of view,... I definitely wouldn't want to... I would rather spend time... because...
... and those are the main differences and similarities, in my view.
