1. Introduction

This unit deals with shapes. The title of this unit suggests that it uses the context of civil engineering and although this topic seems to be miles away from electrical engineering, the ability to describe a shape can be useful even for you. Imagine, for example, yourself discussing a big electrical machine/device with your international business partner, but not having a picture of that machine at hand. If you cannot recall the correct English term for a part you want to discuss and if there is no internet connection available for you to use a dictionary or to search the internet to find a good picture of the component, you can simply describe the function and the shape of the part. In any case, shape-related vocabulary should be an integral part of basic vocabulary at the B1/B2 level of English.

 

Contents:

Describing shapes using nouns:

  • An A4 sheet of paper is (shaped like) a rectangle.
  • An A4 sheet of paper looks like a rectangle.

Describing shapes using adjectives:

  • An A4 sheet of paper is rectangular.

Describing shapes by saying what things look like:

  • The roof is a dome. The roof is a pyramid.

Describing shapes by adding “-shaped” to a word:

  • This is a heart-shaped box. Use a star-shaped cookie cutter.