describe the person

Meaning

This phrase means to give a detailed account of an individual's physical appearance, personality traits, or behavior so that someone else can identify or understand them.

Examples

• The police asked the witness to describe the person who took the bag.

  The police asked the witness to describe the person who took the bag.

• Can you describe the person you met at the conference yesterday?

  Can you describe the person you met at the conference yesterday?

• It is hard to describe the person fully in just a short recommendation letter.

  It is hard to describe the person fully in just a short recommendation letter.

• When writing a novel, you need to describe the person clearly to the reader.

  When writing a novel, you need to describe the person clearly to the reader.

• She tried to describe the person she was looking for to the receptionist.

  She tried to describe the person she was looking for to the receptionist.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ Can you describe about the person?

  ✓ Can you describe the person?

  'Describe' is a transitive verb and takes a direct object. Do not use the preposition 'about' immediately after it.

• ✗ The witness described the person's appearance to be tall.

  ✓ The witness described the person as tall.

  When describing someone's traits, use the structure 'describe [someone] as [adjective/noun]'.

Related Expressions

Practice

• Before we can help you find your lost child, please ___ to the security guard.

  💡 Phrase meaning 'give details about what someone looks like'.

  Show answer

  describe the person

• The job applicant was asked to ___ they would most like to work with.

  💡 Phrase for painting a picture of an individual's traits.

  Show answer

  describe the person