BE LIKE...

Good morning and welcome back to the Daily Vitamin.

One of our readers asked us how to describe people: their personality or character and their physical characteristics. She wrote: "I need different qualifying adjectives."

This is a big topic and there are lots of different adjectives we can use, so we are going to answer this question from a general point of view, concentrating on the "grammatical" structures of descriptions.

First we'll look at common questions that we use to ask for descriptions of people and things. Then we'll give more specific information about adjectives themselves (for example, adjective order when describing someone or something) and use different adjectives to demonstrate how to create effective descriptions.

Today's verb phrase is: be like

We use it: to ask for a description or an opinion. When we refer to people, it is usually used to ask about personality. The verb be is used in the question and it can also be used in the answer (although there are other alternatives, such as the verb seem). The word like is only used in the question. In this case it is NOT a verb. It is a preposition.

Example 1
A: What is the new director like?
B: Jason told me that she is serious, but she certainly seems very friendly.

Example 2
A: What is Barcelona like?
B: It's an exciting city. It's got some beautiful architecture and it's a great place to visit.

Example 3
A: I met the new neighbours yesterday.
B: Really? What were they like?
A: To be honest, they were very strange.
B: Well, maybe you just have to get to know them a little better.

We will continue with this topic tomorrow. If you have any questions so far, please don't hesitate to post your questions on one of our social media sites (Facebook or Bluesky). You may also want to post a sentence or two using today's phrase. As usual, we will give you feedback about your writing as soon as we can.

All the best!