Portuguese Year 5: Describing people, objects and landscapes for a purpose
Portuguese, Year 5 (Portugal): Choose the details, the order and the words of a description according to why you write and who reads it.
Describing is making the reader see
To describe is to make the reader see. You describe people (looks and character), objects (shape, size, colour, material, use) and landscapes (from the nearest plane to the farthest, from the whole to the detail). What you include depends on purpose and genre: in a lost-property notice, the signs that identify it; in a portrait, what makes that person unique; in a travel guide, what invites a visit; in a diary, what you feel. You use precise adjectives, comparisons, verbs like «ser», «estar», «ter», «parecer», and place expressions («à esquerda», «ao fundo»).
The same thing, described differently
The same thing is described in different ways because readers want different things. If you describe everything, nobody finds what matters; if you pick details just because, the text does not serve its purpose. Asking “what for, and for whom?” before writing decides what goes in and what stays out. Order helps too: top to bottom, left to right, near to far.
One backpack, two descriptions
A (lost-property notice): «Perdi uma mochila azul-escura, com um fecho amarelo e um porta-chaves em forma de peixe. Tem uma mancha de tinta no bolso da frente.» B (diary): «A minha mochila velha parece uma amiga cansada: está desbotada, mas guarda todos os meus segredos.» Step 1: A wants someone to find and recognise it; B shows what you feel. Step 2: A picks identifying details, in order, with no opinion; B picks a comparison and a feeling.
Vague words show nothing
«O parque é bonito e grande» could describe any park. «Bonito», «grande», «giro» leave the reader with nothing to see. Replace them with details you can see: «O parque tem um lago com patos e bancos à sombra dos plátanos.» (The park has a lake with ducks and benches in the shade of plane trees.) «Bonito» is not forbidden: the mistake is stopping there. You do not need rare adjectives, you need details that can be seen.
Notices, ads, guides, diaries
Descriptions appear in lost-property notices, in online sale ads, in travel guides and leaflets, in the portrait of a character in a story, in a photo caption and in a diary. In all of them the question is the same: what does the person who will read this need to know, or to feel?
Test what you learned
You are writing a notice for a lost object. What matters most in the description?
- a) The signs that identify it: colour, size, marks
- b) How much you like it
- c) The story of how you bought it
Correct answer: a) The signs that identify it: colour, size, marks — Yes: the purpose is that someone recognises it, so identifying details come first.
You need a poster for a lost dog. Which description is best?
- a) «O Bolinhas é o meu melhor amigo: quente como uma fogueira e sempre a rir.»
- b) «Labrador castanho, coleira verde, mancha branca no peito.»
- c) «Um cão muito giro e simpático.»
Correct answer: b) «Labrador castanho, coleira verde, mancha branca no peito.» — Yes: breed, colour, collar and a mark are details someone can check on the street.
Why is «O parque é bonito e grande.» a weak description?
- a) Because «bonito» is a forbidden word
- b) Because it has no comparison
- c) Because the words are vague and fit any park: they do not let you see this one
Correct answer: c) Because the words are vague and fit any park: they do not let you see this one — Yes: adding details such as a lake, ducks or trees makes the park visible.
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