Handsome/ beautiful

Handsome/ beautiful
Message from ducari3 posted on 02-02-2015 at 09:48:34 (D | E | F)
Hello,
What's the difference between an a handsome/beautiful man and an a handsome/beautiful woman?
Thank you in advance.

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Edited by lucile83 on 02-02-2015 11:25

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Re: Handsome/ beautiful from floflor, posted on 02-02-2015 at 11:13:12 (D | E)
Hello,

According to my "Harrap's Chambers Compact Dictionary of Contemporary English", "handsome" means:
- of a man: good-looking
- of a woman: attractive in a strong, dignified, imposing way.

As far as I know, we can use the adjective "pretty" to say that a woman is good-looking.

Still according to the dictionary mentioned above, "beautiful" means:
1) having an appearance or qualities which please the senses or give rise to admiration in the mind
2) (colloquial) very enjoyable, excellent

It appears that "beautiful" has the same meaning for a man and a woman.

Hope this helps (a little).

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Re: Handsome/ beautiful from lucile83, posted on 02-02-2015 at 11:31:00 (D | E)
Hello,

Handsome is used when talking about a man : a handsome man.
Beautiful is used when talking about a woman : a beautiful woman.
It is rather unusual to talk about a beautiful man.

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Re: Handsome/ beautiful from ashok765, posted on 02-02-2015 at 12:12:50 (D | E)
Hello,
'handsome' is a word which shows the good-looking or affection of man (male human) or gents.
'beautiful'is a word which shows the beauty of ladies.

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Edited by lucile83 on 02-02-2015 12:41

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Re: Handsome/ beautiful from here4u, posted on 02-02-2015 at 12:22:58 (D | E)
Hello
I'm used to telling my students that 'Girls are beautiful!', 'Men can be handsome, but they can't be beautiful...'and to comfort them, I add 'Both can be good-looking!'

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Re: Handsome/ beautiful from here4u, posted on 02-02-2015 at 21:04:12 (D | E)
Hello melmoth,
Hum, hum ... You're on the 'English only Forum' ....
We are all living in the 21st century and I agree with you that these clichés have lived ( or should have...) Yet, I think it's our duty to teach what will help our students till they're fluent enough to use what they fancy using...
Link

Sorry, I'm on my tablet and have no ( authorized) smileys to wish you a good evening !

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Edited by lucile83 on 02-02-2015 21:07
That member's message has been deleted as it was in French but I have kept your reply because it may be useful to other users of the site.

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