This document provides guidance on how to describe a photograph in 3 sentences or less. It instructs the reader to describe who is in the photo, where they are, and what they are doing. It then prompts the reader to imagine or speculate about how people feel, what they are thinking, and other contextual details beyond what is shown. Finally, it suggests sharing any personal feelings or experiences that are evoked by the photograph.

1. English Speaking Tools

2. 1. DESCRIBE
2. IMAGINE
3. PERSONAL FEELINGS ABOUT THE PHOTO

3.  DESCRIBE what you can see in the photograph:
 WHO are the people?
 WHERE are they?
 WHAT are they doing?

4.  The photo shows…
 It was taken by/in…
 It’s a black-and-white/coloured picture
 In the picture we can see…
 In this picture there is/are…
 In the foreground we can see…
 In the background there is/are…

5. AT THE TOP
AT THE BOTTOM
IN THE
MIDDLE/CENTR
E
ON THE
LEFT/ON THE
LEFT-HAND SIDE
ON THE
RIGHT/ON THE
RIGHT-HAND
SIDEOther prepositons
of place:
In, on, under,
behind, in front of,
between, below,
above, near, next
to, etc

6.  In the top left-hand corner
 In the bottom left-hand corner
 In the top right-hand corner
 In the bottom right-handcorner
 Directly opposite

7.  We use present continuous:
 A boy is listening to music…
 The girls are talking to each other.

8.  Go BEYOND the picture and try to infer/imagine
from what you actually see:
 HOW do people FEEL?
 WHAT are they THINKING?
 Which TIME of the day/year is it?
 WHY are they there?

9.  It looks as if they…/It looks like + noun/ They
look + adjective
 She seems to be + adjective/ + verb+-ing
 He appears to be + adjective/ + verb+-ing
 I get the impression that he is…
 Perhaps they are celebrating something
 Maybe the reason they look so serious is
because…
 She might be /may be/could be/must be/
can’t be a busy working mother
 The atmosphere is peaceful/depressing…

10.  Use Past Simple and Past Continuous
The woman was walking home when she saw the
accident
 Use Time Connectors:
After, as, at first, as soon as, finally,
later, then, while

11.  Tell your opinion about the situation shown in
the photograph and talk about similar
experiences you are familiar with
 Useful Expressions:
 I wouldn’t like to be in their shoes.
 The first photo reminds me of my own
childhood
 Personally, I’d love to visit a place like that
 It makes me think of…

12. 1. DESCRIBE
 Who
 Where
 What
1. IMAGINE:
 Speculating
 Tell the story
1. PERSONAL FEELINGS ABOUT THE PHOTO