Part 2: describing people, places, objects and events
Master the four big families of description cue cards: people, places, objects and events. Use a clear content plan for each, precise adjectives beyond ‘nice’ and ‘good’, and relative clauses that add detail naturally.
By the end of this lesson you will be able to:
- Use a reliable content plan for person, place, object and event cue cards.
- Replace vague adjectives (nice, good, beautiful, big) with precise, natural alternatives and collocations.
- Support every adjective with a concrete example or detail: show, don't tell.
- Add detail fluently with defining, non-defining and reduced relative clauses.
- Deliver a full two-minute description that ends by answering the ‘explain’ bullet.
Four families of ‘describe’ cue cards
Almost every Part 2 card that isn't a pure story asks you to describe one of four things:
| Family | Typical cards |
|---|---|
| People | a teacher who influenced you · a friend you admire · a famous person you'd like to meet · someone who is good at their job |
| Places | a city you visited · a quiet place you like · a historic building · somewhere you'd like to go in the future |
| Objects | a gift you received · something you own that is important to you · a piece of technology · a photo you like |
| Events | a wedding or celebration · a festival · a sports event you watched · a party you enjoyed |
Description cards cause a specific problem: candidates slip into lists. ‘He is very nice. He is very kind. He is very helpful. He is tall. He has black hair…’ The vocabulary is basic, every sentence has the same shape, and the talk runs dry after a minute.
Band 7–8 descriptions sound completely different. They follow a content plan for the type of card, use precise adjectives backed up by examples, pack in detail with relative clauses, and include a mini story that brings the description to life. That's what you'll practise in this lesson.
A content plan for each family
| Family | Cover, roughly in this order | Spend most time on | Trap to avoid |
|---|---|---|---|
People | Who they are and how you know them → a quick picture (one sentence on appearance, only if relevant) → 2–3 personality traits, each with an example → a short moment that shows them in action → their influence on you | Personality with examples, and influence | Forty seconds on height, hair and skin colour; ten adjectives with no evidence |
Places | Where it is (relative to somewhere well known) → first impression and atmosphere → 2–3 features: what you see, hear and do → one moment you remember there → why it matters to you | Atmosphere and a personal moment | Tourist-brochure facts (dates, statistics) with no personal connection |
Objects | What it is and what it looks like (size, shape, material, colour, condition) → how you got it (a mini story) → how and when you use it → what it means to you | How you got it, and what it means | Technical specifications (‘8 GB RAM, 5000 mAh battery…’) instead of meaning |
Events | What the occasion was, when and where → setting and atmosphere → the highlights in order (narrative tenses) → one specific moment → how you felt and why it stood out | One specific moment and your feelings | Describing the custom in general (‘In Bangladesh, weddings last three days…’) instead of the one event you attended |
Beyond nice, good, bad, beautiful and big
| Instead of… | For people | For places | For objects and events |
|---|---|---|---|
nice | considerate, warm, approachable, easy-going | charming, inviting, peaceful, picturesque | elegant, delightful, well-made |
good | capable, dependable, conscientious, talented | well-kept, well-designed, conveniently located | reliable, practical, user-friendly, well-organised |
bad | short-tempered, self-centred, unreliable | run-down, overcrowded, polluted, soulless | flimsy, faulty, disappointing, chaotic (event) |
beautiful | striking, graceful, elegant | breathtaking, stunning, scenic, lush | exquisite, intricate, eye-catching |
big | tall, well-built; (personality) larger-than-life | vast, sprawling, spacious, imposing (building) | bulky, hefty; (event) large-scale, lavish |
busy | always on the go, hard-pressed | bustling, lively, packed, hectic | eventful, action-packed, hectic |
interesting | fascinating, inspiring, quick-witted | atmospheric, historic, full of character | fascinating, thought-provoking, memorable |
old | elderly, in his late sixties | historic, centuries-old, crumbling (if damaged) | antique, vintage, well-worn, battered |
Relative clauses: the fastest way to add detail
Relative clauses let you add information without starting a new short sentence. They are also one of the ‘complex structures’ that Grammatical Range and Accuracy rewards. Compare:
- I have a friend. His name is Tanvir. He lives in Chattogram. He works at the port. (four simple sentences)
- I have a friend called Tanvir, who works at the port in Chattogram. (one complex sentence)
| Type | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Defining (no commas) | Tells us which one | the teacher who taught me physics · the café where we used to revise |
| Non-defining (commas = small pauses in speech) | Adds extra information | My grandmother, who is eighty-two, still walks to the bazaar every morning. |
| whose | Possession | a friend whose father runs a sweet shop in Old Dhaka |
| where / when | Place / time | the village where my mother grew up · the summer when everything changed |
| Sentence relative which | Comments on the whole previous idea | He never breaks a promise, which is why everyone trusts him. |
| Reduced (participle) | Shorter and more natural | a watch made in the 1970s · a café run by two sisters · a man sitting next to me |
| Quantity + of whom / of which | Advanced; use once | forty volunteers, most of whom were students |
Three rules that prevent errors:
- Never use that after a comma. The watch, that my grandfather gave me, … ✗ → The watch, which my grandfather gave me, … ✓
- Don't repeat the pronoun. the man who he helped me ✗ → the man who helped me ✓
- where replaces a place plus a preposition: the place where I stayed (= stayed in) ✓, but the place where I visited ✗ → the place (that) I visited ✓, because visit takes a direct object.
Cue card: Describe an older person you admire. You should say: who this person is · how you know them · what they are like · and explain why you admire them.
The person I'd like to talk about is my aunt, Dr Nasrin, who is my mother's elder sister and has worked as a doctor at a rural health complex in Netrokona for nearly twenty-five years.
She's a small woman with grey-streaked hair and reading glasses that are always sliding down her nose, but you'd never call her fragile. She's one of the most determined people I know. When the clinic ran out of medicine during a flood a few years ago, she didn't sit and wait for supplies. She phoned every pharmacy in the district until she'd arranged a delivery by boat.
What I admire most, though, is how patient she is. Whenever I visit, there's a long queue of patients, many of whom have travelled for hours, and she listens to every single one as if they were the only person in the room.
We've always been close. When I was at school, she was the one who would send me science books on my birthday, which is probably why I first became interested in medicine.
I admire her more than almost anyone, because she's shown me that success isn't about money or status; it's about being useful to people who genuinely need you. If I do end up studying medicine, that's the kind of doctor I'd like to be.
- Relationship firstWho she is and how she's connected to the speaker, in one sentence with a non-defining relative clause (‘who is my mother's elder sister and has worked…’).
- Appearance: one sentence onlyOne vivid detail (‘reading glasses that are always sliding down her nose’) beats a list of height and hair colour. Then ‘but you'd never call her fragile’ turns straight to personality.
- Trait + evidence‘determined’ is proved at once with the flood story, a mini narrative with the past perfect (‘until she'd arranged’).
- Second trait, signposted‘What I admire most, though, is…’ is a cleft sentence that highlights the key point. ‘many of whom have travelled for hours’ is an advanced relative clause.
- Relationship + habit‘she was the one who would send me science books’ uses ‘would’ for a repeated past action. ‘which is probably why…’ is a sentence relative that links cause and effect.
- Explain bulletA general reflection (‘success isn't about money or status; it's about…’) plus a future link lifts the ending far beyond ‘she is a very good person’.
Listen: the band 8 person description
Check: precise description and relative clauses
8 questions- 1
What is the most effective way to describe a person's personality in Part 2?
- 2
My grandmother, is eighty-two, still walks to the bazaar every morning.
- 3
This is the café we used to revise for our exams.
- 4
I have a friend father runs a sweet shop in Old Dhaka.
- 5
Find and correct the mistake:
The watch, that my grandfather gave me, is my most treasured possession.
- 6
Find and correct the mistake:
He is very kind person who help everyone in our building.
- 7
Match each vague phrase to a more precise adjective.
a really nice view from the hilltopa big, busy market full of peoplea good student who always works carefullyan old building in bad conditiona nice teacher you can easily talk to - 8
Choose TWO details that would be most useful for ‘Describe a place you like to visit’.
Select 2.
Answer every question to check.
Cue card: Describe a place in your city where you like to spend time. You should say: where it is · what it looks like · what you do there · and explain why you like spending time there.
The place I'd like to describe is Dhanmondi Lake, which runs through the middle of one of Dhaka's older residential areas, just a ten-minute walk from my flat.
Most people know it as a busy spot in the evenings, but I love it at around six in the morning, when the city hasn't quite woken up. The air is still fairly cool, the water is completely still, and the only sounds are crows and the occasional rickshaw bell from the road. There's a long, tree-lined walkway that runs along the water, a few wooden benches tucked under huge rain trees, and a small tea stall run by an elderly man who seems to know every regular by name.
I usually go there before my classes to walk and clear my head. During my HSC exams, I'd go almost every day, and I remember sitting on one particular bench, going over formulas and watching the mist lift off the water.
I think it's special to me because it's one of the few places in Dhaka where you can actually hear yourself think. In a city that's so crowded and chaotic, it feels like a small pocket of calm that belongs to everyone.
- Location anchored‘runs through the middle of one of Dhaka's older residential areas, just a ten-minute walk from my flat’ puts it on the map in one sentence.
- Contrast for atmosphere‘Most people know it as… but I love it at around six in the morning, when…’: a contrast plus a relative clause of time.
- Senses, not statisticsCool air, still water, crows, a rickshaw bell: atmosphere comes from the senses, not from facts and figures.
- Features with relative and reduced clauses‘a walkway that runs along the water’, ‘benches tucked under huge rain trees’, ‘a tea stall run by an elderly man who…’
- Personal moment‘During my HSC exams, I'd go almost every day… watching the mist lift off the water’ adds a mini story with ‘would’ for habit.
- Why it matters‘one of the few places in Dhaka where you can actually hear yourself think’ answers the explain bullet with an idiom and a general point about the city.
Cue card: Describe something you own that is very important to you. You should say: what it is · how you got it · how often you use it · and explain why it is important to you.
I'd like to talk about an old wristwatch that used to belong to my grandfather.
It's quite a modest-looking thing, to be honest: a small, round watch with a silver case, a cream-coloured face that's turned slightly yellow with age, and a brown leather strap that I've had to replace twice. It's a wind-up watch, so it has no battery. You have to turn the little knob on the side every morning, otherwise it stops.
My grandfather bought it in the late 1970s with his first salary as a schoolteacher, and he wore it every single day until he passed away when I was fifteen. A few weeks after the funeral, my grandmother called me into her room, handed it to me wrapped in a handkerchief, and said he'd wanted me to have it.
I don't wear it every day, because I'm worried about damaging it, but I always wear it on important occasions. I wore it to every one of my HSC exams, actually.
It matters to me not because it's valuable (I doubt it's worth much at all) but because winding it each morning feels like a small conversation with him. It reminds me of his discipline and his belief that time is the one thing you can never get back.
- Physical description, brieflySize, shape, material, colour and condition in one rich sentence, including a relative clause: ‘a cream-coloured face that's turned slightly yellow with age’.
- How it works, without jargon‘It's a wind-up watch, so it has no battery’ gives a practical detail that leads into the habit of winding it, which pays off at the end.
- How you got it = a mini story‘bought it in the late 1970s with his first salary… handed it to me wrapped in a handkerchief’, with reported speech: ‘said he'd wanted me to have it’.
- How you use it‘I don't wear it every day, because… but I always wear it on important occasions’ is balanced and gives a concrete example.
- Meaning, not money‘not because it's valuable… but because…’: the ‘not X but Y’ frame is ideal for the explain bullet on object cards.
Cue card: Describe a festival or celebration you enjoyed. You should say: what it was · when and where it took place · what you did · and explain why you enjoyed it.
I'd like to describe the Pohela Boishakh celebration I went to in Dhaka last year. Pohela Boishakh is the first day of the Bengali New Year, which falls in mid-April.
My cousins and I set off at around half past five in the morning, because we wanted to hear the traditional songs that are performed at dawn under the huge banyan tree in Ramna Park. Even at that hour, the streets were packed: women in white saris with red borders, men in colourful panjabis, and children with tigers and owls painted on their faces.
After the music, we joined the crowds near the Fine Arts faculty of Dhaka University, where students had made enormous papier-mâché masks and figures for the procession. The atmosphere was electric. Drums were beating, people were singing, and the air smelled of fried hilsa and panta bhat from the food stalls.
The moment I remember most clearly was when a complete stranger, an elderly man, handed my little cousin a paper fan and wished us all ‘Shubho Noboborsho’.
I think I enjoyed it so much because, for one morning, the whole city seemed to forget its usual stress. It made me feel incredibly proud of our culture and strangely connected to thousands of people I'd never met.
- Occasion explainedA short explanation for an international listener (‘the first day of the Bengali New Year, which falls in mid-April’) using a non-defining relative clause.
- Narrative tenses‘set off… wanted to hear… had made’: past simple for events, past perfect for earlier preparation, past continuous for the scene (‘Drums were beating’).
- Crowd in three imagesWhite saris with red borders, panjabis, painted faces: three concrete pictures instead of ‘there were many people’.
- Atmosphere‘The atmosphere was electric’ (a strong collocation) plus sound and smell.
- One specific moment‘The moment I remember most clearly was when…’ is a cleft structure that zooms in on one scene, which is what makes an event description personal.
- Why you enjoyed itA reflection on meaning (the city forgetting its stress, pride, connection) answers the explain bullet without repeating ‘it was very enjoyable’.
Same place, two bands: ‘Describe a place you visited that you would like to return to’
Band 5.5
I want to talk about Cox's Bazar. Cox's Bazar is very beautiful place. It has big beach. The beach is very long, it is the longest beach of the world. There are many hotels. The hotels are very nice. I went there with my family. We ate many foods. The weather was good. I like Cox's Bazar very much because it is very beautiful. I want to go there again.
Band 8
I'd like to talk about Cox's Bazar, a coastal town in the far south-east of Bangladesh, which I visited with my family during the winter holidays last year.
It's often described as having the longest unbroken natural beach in the world (it stretches for well over a hundred kilometres), and when you first see it, it's genuinely breathtaking: a vast, flat expanse of sand that seems to disappear into the haze.
The town itself is a bit of a contrast. The seafront is lined with brand-new hotels, and in peak season it's absolutely packed. But if you drive a little way down the Marine Drive towards Teknaf, it becomes much quieter, with fishing boats pulled up on the sand on one side and steep hills covered in dense forest on the other.
What I remember most is an evening when we sat on the beach eating grilled crab from a little stall run by a local family, watching the sun sink into the Bay of Bengal.
I'd love to go back, partly because it's so relaxing, but mainly because it reminded me how much natural beauty we have in our own country, which a lot of us tend to overlook.
Both speakers chose the same place and similar ideas. The band 5.5 answer repeats ‘very beautiful’ and ‘very nice’, uses short sentences with identical structure, makes basic errors (‘very beautiful place’, ‘many foods’, ‘longest beach of the world’) and has no personal moment. The band 8 answer locates the place precisely, uses precise adjectives and natural collocations (‘genuinely breathtaking’, ‘a vast, flat expanse’, ‘absolutely packed’), adds contrast (‘The town itself is a bit of a contrast’), uses relative and reduced clauses (‘a little stall run by a local family’), includes one specific moment and ends by explaining why the speaker wants to return.
Speaking Part 2 practice
1 min prep · up to 2 min talkDescribe a person you know who is very good at their job.
You should say:
- who this person is
- what their job is
- how you know them
and explain why you think they are good at their job.
Start your one minute of preparation, then talk for up to two minutes.
Tips for a band 7+ answer
- • Spend one sentence at most on appearance. The card is about why they are good at their job.
- • Choose two or three qualities (precise, honest, reliable, patient…) and prove each one with a specific example.
- • Use relative clauses to add detail smoothly: ‘a tailor who has a tiny shop…’, ‘…which is quite rare’.
- • Signpost your reasons: ‘First of all… Secondly… But what really sets him apart is…’.
- • Use the last 20–30 seconds for the ‘explain’ bullet. A general reflection on what being good at a job really means works well.
Speaking Part 2 practice
1 min prep · up to 2 min talkDescribe an interesting old building or historic place you have visited.
You should say:
- where it is
- when you visited it
- what you saw or did there
and explain why you found it interesting.
Start your one minute of preparation, then talk for up to two minutes.
Tips for a band 7+ answer
- • Locate it quickly (‘about thirty kilometres south-east of Dhaka’), then move on to what it's like.
- • Give one or two background facts only if you're confident of them. The examiner isn't checking facts, and a history lecture adds nothing to your score.
- • Contrast first impressions with closer details: ‘From a distance it looks… but when you get closer…’.
- • Use the senses for atmosphere: quiet, eerie, crumbling walls, light through broken glass.
- • Include one moment you remember from the visit, then explain why you found it interesting, with two clear reasons.
Speaking Part 2 practice
1 min prep · up to 2 min talkDescribe a gift you received that was special to you.
You should say:
- what the gift was
- who gave it to you
- when you received it
and explain why it was special to you.
Start your one minute of preparation, then talk for up to two minutes.
Tips for a band 7+ answer
- • Describe the object briefly but vividly: size, colour, material and condition, using precise words (battered, well-worn, second-hand).
- • The ‘who’ and ‘when’ bullets are really a story. Use narrative tenses, especially the past perfect for what happened before (‘he'd saved up for months’).
- • Show how you used it with ‘used to’ and ‘would’: ‘I'd ride to college every morning…’.
- • For ‘why it was special’, go beyond price: what it showed, what it changed, who it reminds you of.
- • A ‘not because… but because…’ sentence is a neat way to explain meaning.
Final check: describing for band 7+
11 questions- 1
For a cue card about a person, how much time should you normally spend on their physical appearance?
- 2
I still wear a watch in the 1970s by a Japanese company.
- 3
He never breaks a promise, is why everyone in the neighbourhood trusts him.
- 4
Find and correct the mistake:
The place where I visited last year was Srimangal.
- 5
Find and correct the mistake:
It was a very breathtaking view from the top of the hill.
- 6
The Speaking examiner assesses four things: fluency and coherence, lexical resource, grammatical range and accuracy, and pronunciation. Examiners do not check whether the person, place or event you describe is real; what matters is that you speak fluently and relevantly about the topic on the card.
The examiner is more interested in how you describe something than in whether it really exists.
- 7
Match each type of cue card to the best focus for its ‘explain’ bullet.
A personA placeAn objectAn event - 8
Choose TWO sentences that ‘show’ rather than ‘tell’.
Select 2.
- 9
Which phrase sounds most natural?
- 10
Put the parts of an object description in a logical order.
Drag the cards (or use the arrows) into the correct order.
- 1How and when you got it
- 2What it is and what it looks like
- 3How and how often you use it
- 4Why it matters to you
- 11
For ‘Describe a wedding you attended’, which sentence focuses on ONE specific occasion, as Part 2 requires?
Answer every question to check.
Describing: key takeaways
Descriptive vocabulary
Saved as flashcards with a free accountapproachable
adjective/əˈprəʊtʃəbl/
friendly and easy to talk to
সহজে কথা বলা যায় এমন, মিশুক
Our new head teacher is very approachable; students drop by her office all the time.
conscientious
adjective/ˌkɒnʃiˈenʃəs/
careful to do your work thoroughly and well
কর্তব্যনিষ্ঠ
She's a conscientious student who checks every answer twice.
down-to-earth
adjective/ˌdaʊn tu ˈɜːθ/
practical, realistic and not arrogant
সাদামাটা ও বাস্তববাদী
Despite being a famous cricketer, he's completely down-to-earth.
bustling
adjective/ˈbʌslɪŋ/
full of busy, noisy activity and people
জমজমাট, কোলাহলপূর্ণ
We wandered through the bustling lanes of Old Dhaka.
tranquil
adjective/ˈtræŋkwɪl/
calm, quiet and peaceful
শান্ত, নিরিবিলি
The tea gardens near Srimangal are incredibly tranquil in the early morning.
run-down
adjective/ˌrʌn ˈdaʊn/
in poor condition because nobody has looked after it
জরাজীর্ণ
The cinema was once grand, but now it's a run-down building with broken seats.
breathtaking
adjective/ˈbreθteɪkɪŋ/
extremely beautiful or impressive
অসাধারণ সুন্দর, শ্বাসরুদ্ধকর
The view from the hills at Sajek is absolutely breathtaking.
intricate
adjective/ˈɪntrɪkət/
having many small parts or details arranged in a complicated way
সূক্ষ্ম কারুকার্যময়
My grandmother's nakshi kantha has intricate patterns of birds and flowers.
well-worn
adjective/ˌwel ˈwɔːn/
used a lot over a long time and showing signs of it
বহু ব্যবহারে পুরনো
He still carries a well-worn leather wallet that his father gave him.
sentimental value
noun phrase/ˌsentɪˈmentl ˈvæljuː/
importance something has because of personal memories rather than money
আবেগগত মূল্য
The watch isn't expensive, but it has huge sentimental value for me.
immaculate
adjective/ɪˈmækjələt/
perfectly clean, tidy or correct
নিখুঁতভাবে পরিচ্ছন্ন
His tiny shop is always immaculate, with every roll of fabric in its place.
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