Confusable words handsome, beautiful and pretty

—   Hello, boys and girls! My name is James Wilson.

—   And my name is Martin Green.

—   Our friend Nathaniel Fleming is also with us today.

—   Welcome to our lesson!

—   Today we would like to tell you one interesting story.

—   We haven’t told you yet, but Nathaniel is a vet.

—   And yesterday we decided to visit the place where he works.

—   When we came there, we saw that he had a client.

—   It was a young girl. She brought a dog.

—   As we could understand, her dog had injured his paw.

—   While Nathaniel was bandaging the dog’s paw, the girl was talking to someone on the phone.

—   After a while we understood that she was talking to her mother.

—   We were behind the door, but we could hear everything she was saying.

—   Listen to their conversation and you’ll guess the topic of the lesson today.

—   Hi, Susan.

—   Hi, mum.

—   Honey, I call you to ask about the dog. How is our little boy?

—   Well… The doctor is bandaging his paw now, so I think he will be fine.

—   Oh, thanks God. I worried about our boy.

—   Relax, mum. The doctor gave him the necessary medicine, so there is no need to worry anymore.

—   Oh, great! Say “thank you” to the doctor, please!

—   Okay, I will. He’s a really good doctor. And by the way, he is also very beautiful!

—   Pardon me, did you say that the doctor is beautiful?

—   Yes, mum, I did!

—   Ha-ha. Honey, we cannot use the word “beautiful” when we talk about men.

—   Really? I didn’t know that. What should I say then?

—   You should say that the doctor is handsome.

—   Oh, okay! Thank you. Well… he is really handsome. Come here! You should see him.

—   Oh, honey, I don’t have time for that!

—   Okay, but you will regret about that!

—   Ha-ha. I’m sure I will! Bye, Susan.

—   Bye, mum.

As you can understand, today in the lesson we will:

·        discuss what the words “handsome”, “beautiful” and “pretty” have in common;

·        talk about the difference between these three words;

And

·        put the knowledge into practice.

—   Let’s start our lesson.

—   First of all, we will tell you what the words “handsome”, “beautiful” and “pretty” have in common.

—   After that we will explain the difference between them.

The words "beautiful", "pretty" and "handsome" are used to describe something which looks good.

Let’s look at the examples:

My neighbor Steve has a beautiful daughter.

Jordan, look at that pretty little girl!

Or

Nick and Bradley are very handsome boys!

We use the words "beautiful", "pretty" and "handsome" mostly to talk about attractiveness and beauty of people.

But pay attention! We can also use these three words to describe different objects.

For instance:

Everyone liked Wendy’s beautiful wedding dress yesterday.

Jennifer took a pretty picture on the way home.

Or

Veronica, look at him! He has very handsome features.

(As you can see, we are not talking about people in these three sentences, but we are describing such things as a dress, a picture and features).

—   Now you know that the words "beautiful", "pretty" and "handsome" have the same meaning.

—   In this case we need to answer the main question: “How can we choose which one to use?”.

—   If you don’t know the right answer, don’t worry! We’ll tell you!

—   Let’s start with the word “beautiful”.

We need to use the adjective “beautiful” if we want to describe the classical beauty of a woman.

Let’s look at the example:

—   Hello, Mrs. Snow.

—   Hi, Jillian.

—   Mrs. Snow, are you ready for the party?

—   No, Jillian, I don’t know what to do with my hair and I don’t have my make-up on.

—   Oh, come on. You don’t need it! You look beautiful without make-up on your face.

—   Oh, thanks, Jillian, but I think you flatter me.

The following word is “pretty”. This adjective is used to describe girls, young women and kids.

Let’s look at the example:

—   Hi, Felix. Let me see your daughter!

—   Sure. Lucy, come here! Stop hiding. Uncle Frank just wants to take a look at you.

—   Okay.

—   Oh, there you are. Just look at you, you are such a pretty little girl.

—   Thank you, Frank. I also find her pretty, but she is too shy.

—   Ha-ha. It’s okay. She is just 12 years old.

And the last word is “handsome”. We usually use this adjective to describe men, boys and gentlemen.

Let’s look at the example:

—   Mr. Smith, I saw your son Alex yesterday.

—   Oh, really? What do you think of him?

—   Well… He is so grown up. And it should be noted that he is really handsome!

—   Oh, I think so too.

—   Ha-ha. Of course, you do! It’s your son.

You shouldn’t confuse the words "beautiful", "pretty" and "handsome". If you call a man pretty or beautiful, this will insult him. It means that he is good-looking, but at the same time he looks like a girl.

Let’s look at the following situation:

—   Hi, girls. Meet my boyfriend Max, please!

—   Hello, everyone!

—   Oh, hi. Molly, your boyfriend is so pretty.

—   Excuse me, what did you say? Did you call me pretty?

—   Ha-ha. Yes, I did.

—   You are lucky to be a girl. If you were a boy, I would hit you.

—   Oh, come on. It was a joke. You are too serious!

—   Now you know what the words "beautiful", "pretty" and "handsome" have in common.

—   We have also told you about the difference between these three adjectives.

—   Now we would like to check your knowledge.

Listen to the dialogues and fill in the gaps with the most suitable words from the box.

Dialogue 1.

—   Hello, Mr. Ring.

—   Hello, Christopher. Who’s that with you?

—   Well… My brother went on a business trip for three days and asked me to look after his daughter.

—   Oh, it’s your niece.

—   Yes, that’s right, Mr. Ring.

—   She is such a …………. little girl.

—   Thank you. Mr. Ring, can she stay with me in the office today? She won’t bother anyone.

—   Sure, Christopher, no problem.

Check yourselves.

The right answer is “pretty”.

Dialogue 2.

—   Hi, dad. This is James. He’s my new boyfriend.

—   Hello, Mr. Miller. Nice to meet you.

—   Oh, hi, James. Nice to meet you too. How long have you been together?

—   Well… we’ve been together for almost a year now.

—   Oh, Marry, why didn’t you tell me about James before?

—   Sorry, dad. I was afraid that you wouldn’t like him.

—   What? Look at him! He is so …………. ! You are talking nonsense.

—   Oh, dad, I’m so glad you liked him.

Let’s check.

The right variant is “handsome”.

Dialogue 3.

—   Mummy, did you go to school yesterday?

—   Yes, Melissa, I did.

—   Did you go there with daddy?

—   Yes, Melissa, we went there together. Why are you asking? Did you do something bad at school?

—   No, mummy. I just wanted to ask whether you saw my new history teacher or not.

—   Yes, Melissa, daddy and I saw your new teacher.

—   Oh, okay. Great! I just really wanted you to see her. She is so kind and …………. .

—   Ha-ha. Melissa, you’re so funny!

Check yourselves.

The right variant is “beautiful”.

Dialogue 4.

—   Hi, Benjamin, how are you?

—   Hi, Addison. I’m fine, thanks. But what are you doing here? You’re supposed to be on vacation.

—   Benjamin, I’m here, because I’m very curious. Did you see our new boss?

—   No, Addison, I didn’t see anyone. I’m focused on my work.

—   Oh, I see. I’ve heard a lot about our boss from the girls.

—   Really? What did they tell you?

—   Well… The girls told me that he is tall, slender and really …………. .

—   Oh, now I want to see him too.

Let’s check.

The right answer is “handsome”.

And dialogue 5.

—   Liam, did you see my younger sister?

—   No, Bobby, I didn’t. How old is she?

—   She is 7 years old. Julia is so young, but I’m sure that she will become a model in the future.

—   Really? Why do you think so? Did she tell you that herself?

—   No, she didn’t. But I’m pretty sure about that.

—   Bobby, I still don’t understand. Why do you keep saying that?

—   Liam, she is just so …………. .

—   Oh, I get that.

Check yourselves.

The right variant is “pretty”.

—   Guys, we have told you about the words "beautiful", "pretty" and "handsome".

—   Now you know that we need to use them in different situations.

—   That’s all for today, our dear friends.

—   We hope that the lesson was interesting and useful for you.

—   See you soon, boys and girls.