Description of a person (in English): Vocabulary and examples

A description It is an explanation of the aspect (objective or subjective) of a person, object, place or situation. The English descriptions (descriptions), usually answer the question: what is (are, was, were) … like? For example:What is Sophie like?/ How is Sophie?

The descriptions use all sorts of adjectives, such as adjectives (describing and qualifying nouns), demonstrative adjectives (which indicate the noun to which reference is made), or possessive adjectives (that express belonging), among others. For example: My new friend is funny and cool./ My new friend is fun and cool.

• It can help you: Adjectives in English

What adjectives are used to describe a person?

To describe people, adjectives are used, which are grammatical elements that qualify and modify a noun, whether it is a name (John), a pronoun (I have) or a noun phrase (my father). For example: My sister has got long brown hair. / My sister has long brown hair.

Description of physical appearance

Several adjectives can be combined before a noun, respecting the following order:

opinion + size + age + origin

For example: read is a beautiful tall young French girl./ Léa is a beautiful French girl, tall and young.

• tall / high
• shorts/ low
• slim/ slim
• thin/ skinny
• fat / fat
• beautiful / beautiful pretty
• good looking/ handsome
• nice / pretty

• See also: Qualifying adjectives in English

hair description

More than one adjective can be combined to describe the hair, respecting the following order:

length + color + style

For example:She has got short black curly hair./ She has short, curly black hair.

• curly/ curly
• straight/ straight
• wavy/ curly
• bald/ bald
• long / long
• shorts / short
• brown/ brown
• black/ black
• blonde/ blond
• spikey/ crested hair

• See also: Possessive adjectives in English

Description of the eyes

More than one adjective can be combined to describe the eyes, respecting the following order:

size + shape + color

For example: you have big round black eyes./ Ted has big, round, black eyes.

• bright/ shiny
• friendly/ friendly
• big/ big
• small / little ones
• round/ round
• almond shaped/ nutty
• blue/ blues
• green/ green
• brown / browns
• black / blacks
• hazel / Hazelnut color
• gray/ gray

• See also: Comparatives and Superlatives in English

Description of the face

Adjectives or adjective phrases can be used to describe face shape and other attributes. For example: your mother has an oval wrinkled face./ Your grandmother has a wrinkled oval face.

• a round face/ rounded face
• an oval face/ an oval face
• a square face/ a square face
• a wrinkled face/ a wrinkled face
• with scars/ with scars
• with freckles/ with freckles
• suntanned/ tanned
• pale / pale

• See also: Demonstrative adjectives in English

Description of the dress

Most of the adjectives for the description of the clothing, can be followed by the noun clothes (clothes). For example: He's elegant and always wears formal clothes./ He is elegant and always wears formal clothes.

• casual / informal
• elegant/ elegant
• neat/ tidy
• fancy/ expensive
• formal/ formal
• shabby/ spent
• well dressed/ well dressed

• See also: Adverbs in English

age description

In addition to using the exact age of a person (he is 21 years old), less precise adjectives can also be used. For example: The new teacher is young./ The new teacher is young.

• old/ Old man
• elderly/ old man
• middle-aged/ middle-aged
• young/ young
• a 16-year-old person / a person of 16 years
• teenager/ Teen

Description of personality and character

Adjectives can be used to express a subjective opinion about a person. For example: Tina is kind and generous. / Tina is kind and generous.

• friendly / friendly
• shy / shy
• reserved/ reserved
• outgoing/ extrovert
• warm/ warm
• easygoing/ relaxed, easy-going
• open minded/ open mint
• gentle / kind, sweet
• polite/ respectful, polite
• Sociable/ Sociable
• nice/ gentle
• reliable/ reliable
• picky / meticulous, crafty

What questions are used to get a description?

• What's…like? It is used to ask for the description of a person or thing (appearance, personality or character). For example:What is your new boyfriend like? He's good-looking and cool./ How is your new boyfriend? He is handsome and cool.
• what does / do … look like? It is used to ask about the physical appearance of a person. For example: What does John look like? He is tall and slim./ What does John look like? He is tall and slim.
• How… ? It is used to ask about the health, status or condition of a person or thing. For example: How is your mother doing these days? She's better./ How is your mother these days? She is better.

• See also: Interrogative Adverbs in English

character descriptions

1. A confederacy of Dunces  (John Kennedy Toole)

A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head. The green earflaps, full of large ears and uncut hair and the fine bristles that grew in the ears themselves, stuck out on either side like turn signals indicating two directions at once. Full, pursed lips protruded beneath the bushy black mustache and, at their corners, sank into little folds filled with disapproval and potato chip crumbs.

A tight green deer cap on top of a head that was like a fleshy balloon. The green earmuffs, full of large ears and uncut hair and the fine bristles that sprouted the same ears, jutting out on either side like turn signals indicating two directions to the left. time. The lips, fat and sweet, protruded from under the bushy black mustache and sunk in at the corners, in little folds full of reproach and the remains of French fries.

1. Ender's Game (Orson Scott Card)

"Ender did not see Peter as the beautiful ten-year-old boy that grown-ups saw, with dark, tousled hair and a face that could have belonged to Alexander the Great. Ender looked at Peter only to detect anger or boredom, the dangerous moods that almost always led to pain.»

Ender did not see in Peter the handsome ten-year-old boy that adults see, with thick, wild black hair and a face that might have been Alexander the Great's. Ender looked at Peter only to detect anger or boredom, the dangerous moods that almost always brought pain.

1. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (No. K. Jemisin)

«… Face like the moon, pale and somewhat wavering. I could get the gist of his features from him, but none of it stuck in my mind beyond an impression of astonishing beauty. His long, long hair wafted around him like black smoke, its tendrils curling and moving of their own volition. His cloak from him — or perhaps that was his hair from him too — shifted as if in an unfelt wind. I could not recall him wearing a cloak before, on the balcony. The madness still lurked in his face, but it was a quieter madness now, not the rabid-animal savagery of before. Something else—I could not bring myself to call it humanity—stirred beneath the gleam.”

“A face like the moon, pale and somehow wavering. I could perceive the gist of his features, but none lingered in my mind beyond an impression of startling beauty. His long hair billowed around her like black smoke, its curls coiling and moving of its own accord. His cloak – or perhaps that was also his hair – moved as if under an imperceptible wind. She didn't remember him wearing a cape before, on the balcony. The madness still lingered on his face, but it was a quieter madness now, not the ferocity of a rabid animal from before. Something else-he couldn't quite call it humanity-turned beneath his glow.

1. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)

«He was not conspicuously tall, his features of him were striking but not conspicuously handsome. His hair was wiry and gingerish and brushed backward from the temples. His skin seemed to be pulled backward from the nose. There was something very slightly odd about him, but it was difficult to say what it was. Perhaps it was that his eyes from him did not seem to blink often enough and when you talked to him for any length of time your eyes began involuntarily to water on his behalf from him. Perhaps it was that he smiled slightly too broadly and gave people the unnerving impression that he was about to go for their neck.»

“He wasn't terribly tall, and her features could be impressive but not very attractive. She had strong red hair, and she brushed it back from her temples. She looked like she had her skin stretched from her nose to the back. There was something off about his appearance, but it was hard to tell what he was. Perhaps it was that she didn't seem to blink often enough and when they talked to her for a while, the other person's eyes would start to water involuntarily. Or maybe it was that he smiled indelicately and gave people the unnerving impression that he was about to jump on their necks."

1. The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)

«She's the twelve-year-old, the one who reminded me so of Prim in stature. Up close she looks about ten. She has bright, dark eyes and satin brown skin and stands tilted up on her toes with arms slightly extended to her sides, as if ready to take wing at the slightest sound. It's impossible not to think of a bird.»

She's the twelve year old, the one who reminded me so much of Prim because of her height. Up close he looks only ten; her eyes are dark and bright, her skin is a silky brown and she stands slightly on tiptoe, with arms outstretched by her sides, as if she were ready to fly away at any sound. It is impossible to look at her and not think of a bird.

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• Affirmative and negative sentences in English
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