Describing a Picture in Japanese: Start Wide, Then Zoom In

To describe a picture in Japanese, start with the whole scene, then place things and people with ni arimasu and ni imasu, say what people are doing and wearing with te imasu, and finish with an impression using sō or mitai.

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Describing a Picture in Japanese: Start Wide, Then Zoom In

Describing a picture is one of the most useful speaking skills you can practise. It comes up whenever you show someone a photo on your phone, and it is a standard task in speaking tests and class assessments. The JLPT has no speaking section, though some of its listening questions, especially at N5 and N4, give you pictures to choose from. The organising idea is a camera zooming in. First the whole frame: what kind of place, what time, what weather. Then the large things and where they are. Then the people, what they are doing and what they are wearing. Last, your impression. Each step has its own grammar, and following the order stops you listing details at random. Below, one park scene is described step by step, with the position words that belong to pictures, such as oku and temae, and the confusable pairs side by side.

Start with the whole scene, then zoom in to the details

Introduce new things with ga, then say more about them with wa

Use arimasu for objects and plants, imasu for people and animals

Te imasu covers actions and clothes alike: yonde imasu, kabutte imasu

The core idea: describe a picture the way a camera zooms in

A picture is a lot of information at once, and the commonest problem is not grammar but order. Learners start with whatever catches their eye, a hat, then a dog, then the sky, and the listener cannot build the scene. Japanese listeners, and examiners, expect a zoom: the whole frame first, then the large things and where they are, then the people and what they are doing, and finally how the scene feels.

Each step leans on one piece of grammar, so once you know which step you are on, you know which pattern to reach for. The diagram shows the four steps with a model sentence for each.

Work from the widest shot down: 1 zentai, the whole scene; 2 mono to basho, things and places; 3 hito to dōsa, people and actions; 4 kansō, your impression. Pink marks the grammar each step relies on.
StepReadingQuestion it answersGrammar
全体zentaiWhat is this a picture of?no e desu, no shashin desu
物と場所mono to bashoWhat is where?ni ... ga arimasu, ni ... ga imasu
人と動作hito to dōsaWho is doing what, and wearing what?te imasu
感想kansōHow does it feel?sō desu, mitai desu, yō desu

Step one: frame the whole scene

Your first sentence names the picture. E means a drawing or illustration and shashin a photo: kōen no e desu, it is a picture of a park. Add the time and weather if the picture shows them, then a rough count of the people. Two or three sentences are enough; the listener now has a frame to hang everything else on. Here is the scene the rest of this article describes.

Around the frame: oku (back), temae (front), hidari (left), migi (right). Inside: ki (tree), benchi (bench), otoko no hito (man), neko (cat), ike (pond), onna no hito (woman), inu (dog), kodomo (child), bōru (ball).
JapaneseRomajiMeaning
公園の絵です。Kōen no e desu.It's a picture of a park.
晴れた日の午後みたいです。Hareta hi no gogo mitai desu.It looks like a sunny afternoon.
人が三人と、動物が二匹います。Hito ga san-nin to, dōbutsu ga ni-hiki imasu.There are three people and two animals.
公園で人がのんびり過ごしています。Kōen de hito ga nonbiri sugoshite imasu.People are spending a relaxed time in the park.

Step two: what is where, with ni arimasu and ni imasu

Now place the large things. The pattern is place, ni, thing, ga, then arimasu or imasu: ki no shita ni benchi ga arimasu, under the tree there is a bench. Arimasu is for objects and plants, imasu for people and animals, including a cat that is fast asleep.

Once something has been introduced with ga, switch to wa to say more about it: benchi ni otoko no hito ga suwatte imasu, then otoko no hito wa hon o yonde imasu. Ga says here is something new; wa says now, about that. Opening with benchi wa ki no shita ni arimasu sounds as if the listener already knew about the bench. In the park scene, from the back to the front:

JapaneseRomajiMeaning
左の奥に大きい木があります。Hidari no oku ni ōkii ki ga arimasu.At the back on the left there is a big tree.
木の下にベンチがあります。Ki no shita ni benchi ga arimasu.There is a bench under the tree.
ベンチの下に猫がいます。Benchi no shita ni neko ga imasu.There is a cat under the bench.
右の奥に池があります。Migi no oku ni ike ga arimasu.At the back on the right there is a pond.
木と池の間に女の人がいます。Ki to ike no aida ni onna no hito ga imasu.There is a woman between the tree and the pond.
手前に子どもがいます。Temae ni kodomo ga imasu.There is a child in the foreground.

Position words that belong to pictures: oku, temae and the corners

Ue, shita, mae, ushiro, naka and tonari place one thing relative to another, and the separate post on location words covers them. A picture also needs words for places in the frame itself. Oku (奥) is the back, the part furthest from the viewer. Temae (手前) is the front, literally before your hand, the part nearest you. Mannaka (真ん中) is the middle, literally the true middle. Corners combine left or right with up or down.

WordReadingMeaningIn the park scene
奥okuthe back, far from the viewerThe tree and the pond
手前temaethe front, nearest the viewerThe child and the ball
真ん中mannakathe middleRoughly where the woman is
左側hidarigawathe left sideThe tree, the bench and the man
右側migigawathe right sideThe pond and the dog
左上hidariuethe top left cornerThe top of the tree
右上migiuethe top right cornerThe space above the pond
間aidabetween two thingsThe woman, between the tree and the pond

Tonari and yoko are the pair to watch. Both mean next to, but tonari is for two things of the same kind side by side, such as two people or two houses, while yoko works for anything beside anything. The dog is onna no hito no yoko, not tonari.

Step three: what people are doing and wearing, with te imasu

A picture freezes a moment, so almost every verb about people ends in te imasu. It covers two things. An action in progress: hon o yonde imasu, he is reading a book. And a state left by an action: suwatte imasu, he sat down and so is sitting; bōshi o kabutte imasu, she put on a hat and so is wearing one. The guide to the te iru form covers every use; for pictures, these two are all you need.

Wearing verbs depend on the body part: kiru for the upper or whole body, haku for anything you step into, such as trousers, skirts and shoes, kaburu for hats and kakeru for glasses. Here is the scene person by person, then a friend in a photo on your phone.

JapaneseRomajiMeaning
男の人はベンチに座って、本を読んでいます。Otoko no hito wa benchi ni suwatte, hon o yonde imasu.The man is sitting on the bench, reading a book.
女の人は帽子をかぶって、ワンピースを着ています。Onna no hito wa bōshi o kabutte, wanpīsu o kite imasu.The woman is wearing a hat and a dress.
犬と散歩しています。Inu to sanpo shite imasu.She's walking her dog.
子どもはボールで遊んでいます。Kodomo wa bōru de asonde imasu.The child is playing with a ball.
友達は眼鏡をかけて、スニーカーを履いています。Tomodachi wa megane o kakete, sunīkā o haite imasu.My friend is wearing glasses and trainers.

Beyond the basics: impressions with sō, mitai and yō

The last step makes a description sound like a person talking rather than an inventory. Sō desu after an adjective or verb stem gives your judgement from appearance: tanoshisō, looks fun; oishisō, looks delicious. Ii becomes yosasō, and kawaii is a trap: kawaisō means poor thing, so for looks cute just say kawaii desu ne.

Mitai desu follows nouns and whole sentences: oyako mitai desu, they seem to be parent and child. Yō desu, with no after a noun, as in oyako no yō desu, means the same in a more formal register and suits a test. Watch one pair. Ame ga furisō desu, from the verb stem, is what you see: it looks like rain. Ame ga furu sō desu, from the dictionary form, is what you heard: apparently it will rain. For the park, and for a grey sky in another picture:

JapaneseRomajiMeaning
みんな楽しそうです。Minna tanoshisō desu.Everyone looks happy.
男の人は気持ちよさそうです。Otoko no hito wa kimochi yosasō desu.The man looks comfortable.
猫は寝ているみたいです。Neko wa nete iru mitai desu.The cat seems to be asleep.
女の人と子どもは親子かもしれません。Onna no hito to kodomo wa oyako kamo shiremasen.The woman and the child might be mother and child.
雨が降りそうです。Ame ga furisō desu.It looks as if it's going to rain.

How it sounds in a test and in conversation

In a speaking test, the examiner wants short, correct sentences in a sensible order, not long ones. Open with the frame, use ēto or sō desu ne to buy a second of thinking time, and link sentences with soshite, and, and sore kara, and then. Polite desu and masu forms are the safe level.

When you show a friend a photo, the style turns plain and the order loosens. You point, and kore, koko and kono hito do the work of position words. The first three lines below are from a test; the last two are to a friend.

JapaneseRomajiMeaning
えーと、これは駅前の写真です。Ēto, kore wa ekimae no shashin desu.Um, this is a photo of the area in front of a station.
そして、右側に店がたくさんあります。Soshite, migigawa ni mise ga takusan arimasu.And on the right there are lots of shops.
それから、真ん中に大きい時計があります。Sore kara, mannaka ni ōkii tokei ga arimasu.And in the middle there is a big clock.
これ、去年の夏。左にいるのが妹。Kore, kyonen no natsu. Hidari ni iru no ga imōto.This is last summer. The one on the left is my little sister.
この人、誰だと思う？Kono hito, dare da to omou?Who do you think this is?

Common mistakes when describing a picture

Using arimasu for animals: neko ga arimasu. The cause is that the cat is not moving in the picture. Imasu depends on what something is, not what it is doing, so neko ga imasu.

Starting with wa: benchi wa ki no shita ni arimasu as the first mention of the bench. The cause is treating wa as the default subject marker. New things enter with ga; wa comes afterwards.

Using kiru for everything: bōshi o kite imasu, kutsu o kite imasu. The cause is English wear, one verb for all clothing. Hats take kaburu, shoes and trousers haku, glasses kakeru.

Putting sō after a noun: gakusei sō desu. The cause is treating sō as a general looks like. After a noun use mitai desu: gakusei mitai desu.

Listing details at random. The cause is starting with whatever catches the eye. Frame first, then zoom in.

Key points

A practical way to improve

Picture description is about speed as much as accuracy, so practise it aloud. Describe a photo on your phone to your AI Sensei in Unihongo's immersive 3D classroom, following the four steps, and ask the Sensei to follow up with questions such as dare ga imasu ka and nani o shite imasu ka. Then swap roles: let the Sensei describe a scene while you sketch it, which trains your ear for ni arimasu and te imasu. Find a Friend at a Festival is a natural test, because you have to say where you are and what you can see, and Report a Lost Wallet asks you to describe an object and where you last saw it. Check the corrections afterwards for aru and iru.

  1. 1

    Choose one clear goal

    Focus each session on a situation or skill you can actually use.

  2. 2

    Practice actively

    Say complete answers aloud instead of only reading or recognizing Japanese.

  3. 3

    Review and repeat

    Keep useful corrections and revisit the same skill until it feels natural.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How do you describe a picture in Japanese?

Go from big to small. Say what the picture shows as a whole, kōen no e desu, then place the main things with ni arimasu and ni imasu, then describe what people are doing and wearing with te imasu, and finish with an impression using sō desu or mitai desu. Keep each sentence short and link them with soshite or sore kara.

What is the difference between arimasu and imasu?

Imasu is for living things that move by themselves, people and animals; arimasu is for everything else, including plants, buildings and objects. So ki ga arimasu for a tree, but neko ga imasu for a cat, even a sleeping one. Vehicles with drivers, such as a waiting taxi, can take imasu too, but for pictures the basic rule covers nearly everything.

How do you say background and foreground in Japanese?

Oku is the back of a scene, the part furthest from the viewer, and temae is the front, the part nearest you. Oku ni yama ga miemasu means mountains can be seen in the background; temae ni kodomo ga imasu, there is a child in the foreground. For the frame's sides and corners, use hidarigawa, migigawa, hidariue, migishita and mannaka.

What is the difference between sō desu and mitai desu?

Sō follows adjective and verb stems and gives your judgement from how something looks: tanoshisō, looks fun; ame ga furisō, looks as if it will rain. Mitai follows nouns and whole sentences and means it seems or it is like: oyako mitai, they seem to be parent and child. Sō cannot follow a noun in this sense, so say gakusei mitai, not gakusei sō.

Is describing a picture part of the JLPT?

No. The JLPT tests reading and listening, with no speaking section. Pictures do appear in its listening questions, especially at N5 to N3, where you choose the right picture or the right thing to say. Picture description as a speaking task belongs to other oral tests, interviews and classroom assessments.

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