Her appearance is pretty good but not enough to become ...

[shorty1]

Dear all,


Let's say a girl wants to be an actress. Her appearance is pretty good but not enough to become an actress.
or Let's say a girl wants to be an singer. She sings pretty well but not enough to become an singer.

In this case, how do you say that pattern?

My try:
Her appearance/singing is in-between(or ambiguous) in becoming an actress/singer.


Thank you so much.

 

[Copyright]

First of all, it's a ridiculous comment: there are plenty of actors and singers who haven't required personal beauty to succeed (most of them, actually).

But if you'd like to make such a statement:

She's pretty, but not pretty enough to be an actor/singer.
He's handsome, but not handsome enough to be an actor/singer.

"In between" and "ambiguous" don't have any place here, in my opinion.

 

[shorty1]

First of all, it's a ridiculous comment: there are plenty of actors and singers who haven't required personal beauty to succeed (most of them, actually).

But if you'd like to make such a statement:

She's pretty, but not pretty enough to be an actor/singer.
He's handsome, but not handsome enough to be an actor/singer.

"In between" and "ambiguous" don't have any place here, in my opinion.

Thank you very much, Copyright.
I get it.

Copyright, if the repeated 'pretty' and 'handsome' are left out in your sentences as below, do they still sound natural to you?

She's pretty, but not enough to be an actor/singer.
He's handsome, but not enough to be an actor/singer.

 

[Copyright]

Yes, they probably work.

 

[shorty1]

Yes, they probably work.

Thanks for your time and confirming it.

This has been very helpful.

 

[bennymix]

If there were an example as to beauty, say, being a 'cover girl', I'd say,
"Her face has beauty bordering on that of a cover girl." "The beauty of her face is perhaps enough (sufficient) to be a cover girl." "Her face is almost beautiful enough to be that of a cover girl."

Dear all,


Let's say a girl wants to be an actress. Her appearance is pretty good but not enough to become an actress.
or Let's say a girl wants to be an singer. She sings pretty well but not enough to become an singer.

In this case, how do you say that pattern?

My try:
Her appearance/singing is in-between(or ambiguous) in becoming an actress/singer.


Thank you so much.

 

[Parla]

She's pretty, but not enough to be an actor/singer.
He's handsome, but not enough to be an actor/singer.

I think the adjectives should really be repeated, as in post #2.

 

[shorty1]

Thank you very much, bennymix and Parla.


Is there an idiomatic and casual way of saying I can't assert the beauty of her face is enough to be a cover girl?

 

[MattiasNYC]

Thank you very much, bennymix and Parla.


Is there an idiomatic and casual way of saying I can't assert the beauty of her face is enough to be a cover girl?

I think it really depends on the context. If you are talking to a friend of yours that you are very close with, and you are commenting on this girl, you could be very honest about it: "I don't think her face is pretty enough for her to be a cover girl." That's a very direct way of saying it. If you were talking to the girl who wanted to be a cover girl then you could certainly be more sensitive about it, and I would personally probably not even say that but instead something like "We have decided to use a different girl for the cover" or "We are really looking for a different 'look' for the cover", where the latter is possibly understood as saying she's not pretty enough. And you could also be more 'positive' when talking to your friend about her by saying you "need someone prettier", which sort of sounds positive, rather than saying that she's not pretty enough (even though it's true).

That's my opinion about it anyway...

 

[velisarius]

Thank you very much, bennymix and Parla.


Is there an idiomatic and casual way of saying I can't assert the beauty of her face is enough to be a cover girl?

You must be careful about the subject of "to be a cover girl". It is the girl herself. You can't say "the beauty is enough to be a cover girl" or "her appearance is enough to become an actress. That's why Copyright gave you "She's not pretty enough to be an actress.

 

[bennymix]

I take your point, but the situation I described in post #6 is trickier.

She doesn't quite have {or, does almost have} the beautiful facial features of a cover girl. ?

He doesn't quite have the face to be on the cover of GQ ?

-----
In general terms, it's a bit easier:

With his looks, he could almost be a male model ?

You must be careful about the subject of "to be a cover girl". It is the girl herself. You can't say "the beauty is enough to be a cover girl" or "her appearance is enough to become an actress. That's why Copyright gave you "She's not pretty enough to be an actress.

 

[shorty1]

I take your point, but the situation I described in post #6 is trickier.

She doesn't quite have {or, does almost have} the beautiful facial features of a cover girl. ?

He doesn't quite have the face to be on the cover of GQ ?

-----
In general terms, it's a bit easier:

With his looks, he could almost be a male model ?

Thank you very much, MattiasNYC, velisarius and bennymix.

I get it.


I'd like to mean "It's tough/or hard/or not easy for me to assert she is pretty enough to be a cover girl." (I don't know if this sentence makes sense and you can udnerstand what I mean.)

"It's tough/or hard/or not easy for me to assert she is pretty enough to be a cover girl." is similar in meaning to yours, bennymix?

 

[bennymix]

Shorty, those sentences are understandable, but odd. IF I were into the grading business, I'd say something like

He looks good, I don't think he'd quite make the cover of GQ.

He runs well, but it's hard to believe he's Olympic material.

 

[shorty1]

Shorty, those sentences are understandable, but odd.IF I were into the grading business, I'd say something like

He looks good, I don't think he'd quite make the cover of GQ.

He runs well, but it's hard to believe he's Olympic material.

Thanks for your time and explaining it.

It must have been odd because I made up my sentences based on word-for-word translation from Korean to English.

This has been very helpful.