How to make physical descriptions in Spanish accurately and detailed

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When we start learning a language, one of the first things that students study is the description of people. 

Today we are going to talk precisely about this. We are going to teach you how to make one description of a person's physique in the most detailed way possible.

The entire article is going to revolve around three fundamental verbs from Spanish: be, have and carry.

Through different examples of physical descriptions of people in Spanish, you will learn a lot of vocabulary about the face, hair, body, height, clothes, accessories and much more.

We will also see how to ask about appearance someone's physical They are very simple and useful questions that you will memorize quickly, you'll see!

Finally, as we always do in educational articles, we will work everything seen with a activity.

This is an article that will be very helpful to you if you are in a beginner level of Spanish.

Do you want to reach a good level?

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Or do you simply want to learn Spanish at your own pace?

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Having said that, we begin this article on how to describe people.

Let's go full out!

Different ways to talk about physical description in Spanish

There are many ways to describe a person. The simplest and most direct way is through verbs be, have and carry.

Let's start with the verb to be.

Verb To Be

The verb to be is the verb par excellence of the description of a person's physical appearance. You can say many things about people with this verb.

The structure of the verb to be to talk about characteristics is always this: 

SUBJECT + BE + ADJECTIVE

Examples: 

• • Juan is tall.
  • Laura is pretty.
  • Jaime is thin.
  • Rita is short.

There are many things you can say about a person's physique with this verb. Do you want to know them? Let's go there!

Adjectives that talk about hair

Let's start with the hair, a very characteristic feature of each person. 

We can use the verb to be to talk about hair color. 

• If the hair is brown, we say that it's brown.
• If it is black, we say that is dark.
• a yellow hair, is blonde.
• If it is orange, he is redhead.
• If your hair is white due to age, we say that is gray or that he has gray hair.
• If it has no hair, it is said that he is bald.

We can also describe the hair texture with the same verb. 

• a hair is smooth when it is straight and does not deviate.
• It is curly when it curls around itself and forms ringlets.
• There are also hairs that are wavy, which have a straight root and the waves make a shape like a sea wave.

Adjectives that talk about the physical

Regarding physical complexion, there are people who they are thin, they have little fat and little muscle. 

The adjective is also used skinny, although this has a more negative connotation, as if it were not healthy.

People who have a lot of fat and a big belly They are fat. 

However, the term "fat" can sound a bit offensive, and the diminutive is often used (chubby) to soften it further.

People who have developed muscles say that they are strong or muscular.

There are also people who they are slender, thin but strong. Have you seen the Avatar movies? The Na'vi They are the perfect example of the adjective slender.

And we can also say that a person she is pretty when he has a pretty face. If, on the other hand, he has an unattractive face, we say that it's ugly.

Adjectives that talk about age

When we indicate the age that we have in numbers, the verb is used have. 

Example:

• Maite has 24 years old.

However, some adjectives can also be used to describe a person based on how many years they have lived using the verb be.

A child, adolescent or person who is in their twenties, we say that is young.

From 30 onwards we are adults or mature. 

And when we are over 70 years old we are older, old or elderly.

Adjectives that talk about height

The verb beIt is also used to talk about height.

People who are very tall, like basketball players, are tall people. high. On the other hand, a person who is short in height, we say that is low or small.

The diminutive (short) because it is softer.

Adjectives that talk about size

There are different types of bodies, but in general they could be divided into large, medium and small.

People who are big have wide backs, legs and arms. corpulent, big hands and feet, etc.

On the other hand, small people are narrow and thin, and usually have small hands and feet.

Verb Have

The verb have is another descriptive verb that we often use to talk about what they are like. body parts human specific.

These specific parts can be the eyes, hair, nose, arms, legs, hands, etc.

The structure of the verb have is:

SUBJECT + HAVE + NOUN + ADJECTIVE

Examples:

• Roberto has curly hair.
• She has big lips.
• He has long fingers.

with him verb have always we need add the noun in front of the adjective.

the hair

As with the verb to be, we can also say the same characteristics of the hair with the verb have: brown, blonde, brunette, wavy, curly, soft, short, long, etc.

As we have said before, the difference now is that with the verb tener we need to add the noun "hair." 

Examples:

• I have brown and wavy hair.
• She has the blonde hair and smooth.

the eyes

The eyes are the windows to the soul, and the verb tener can help us describe its colors:

Examples:

• Marta has brown eyes.
• Pepe has blue eyes.
• Alejandro has green eyes.
• Rosa has the black eyes.

These are the common eye colors, although we can also add more characteristics, such as intensity (light/dark) or the type of color.

Examples:

• She has light blue eyes.
• He has honey brown eyes.

Furthermore, we can also talk about size of the eyes (big, small) or shape (round, torn, separated, together, elongated, sagging, etc.)

Examples:

• Jaime has big, round eyes.
• Lucía has slanted and elongated eyes.

the nose

What can we say about the nose? Well, many things, really. 

The nose is in the center of the face, so it is impossible not to see it.

Let's look at some of the types of noses most current 👃🏻:

• have the nose small: This is a nose that is small in proportion to the face.
• have the nose upturned: curves upward at the tip.
• have the nose straight: It is characterized by its straight line from the base to the tip. It is symmetrical and proportionate.
• have the nose greek: The Greek nose is known for its straight, high profile, with a subtle forward slope at the top.
• have the nose columbine: The aquiline nose is characterized by having a pronounced curve at the top, similar to the shape of an eagle's beak.
• have the nose prominent: It is a big and wide nose.

carry

The verb carry It is the third on this list of verbs to describe in Spanish.

Its use focuses on the things we can add to our body, like the clothes, the accessories or the tattoos.

It is also used to talk about hairstyles or of the beard. 

The structure is the same as with the verb tener. Sowing is accompanied by a noun: 

SUBJECT + CARRY + NOUN

Accessories

When it comes to dressing, there are many accessories or accessories What we can wear to give more personality to our appearance.

we can carry earrings or ear piercings, scarves or pretty scarves to protect the neck in winter, a cap cool on hot days, elegant ones sunglasses, necklaces around the neck, bracelets on the wrists, rings on the fingers, etc.

There are tons! And you, what accessories do you like to wear?

Beard

Many men grow beards. There are also different ways to wear it.

There are men who they have long beards, or as we commonly say "woodcutter's beard."

Others prefer to wear a trimmed beard, more stylized.

There are those who prefer to wear a three day beard, to have some hair on your face.

There are also those that carry goatee or mustache, shaving the hair off his face and leaving hair only above the upper lip and on the chin.

Tattoos

Do you like the tattoos?

If you have any on your body, we also use the verb carry or have.

Examples:

• I wear/have 5 tattoos.
• I wear/have a small tattoo on my shoulder.

Did you know that almost 40% of Spaniards between 16 and 35 years old have tattoos? We are the sixth country in the world with the most tattooed people!

Clothing

When we talk about clothes, we also use the verb to carry or have. Although there are differences in their use.

«have» is used to express the possession or belonging of clothes. 

Example:

• I I have several black t-shirts

On the other hand, when we say "I I wear a t-shirt black" we refer to the t-shirt that we have set in the body at that time.

How many clothing nouns do you know? We refresh you some:

• Shirt: a garment with long or short sleeves worn on the upper part of the body and usually fastened with buttons in the front.
• Blouse: similar to a shirt but more feminine, with various shapes and styles.
• T-shirt: It is made of cotton and can be short or long sleeved, usually with a round neck, worn over the torso.
• Polo: T-shirt with a collar and a button opening at the neck, usually in a more formal style than a regular T-shirt.
• sweater: a knitted garment worn over a shirt, blouse, or T-shirt to keep warm.
• Vest: sleeveless garment worn over a shirt, usually buttoned in front.
• coat: Longer, warmer garment, designed to keep you warm in cold climates.
• Pants: covers the legs, fits at the waist and can have different styles, such as jeans or linen pants.
• shorts: These are pants that cover only part of the legs, usually up to the knees.
• Dress: a woman's single garment that covers the body from the neck to the bottom and usually falls above the knees.
• Suit: matching set of clothing, it is usually elegant and used for special occasions such as parties, weddings, celebrations, etc.

How to ask about physical appearance?

Now you know how to use the 3 verbs most important to talk about physical characteristics of people in Spanish. Bravo! 👏🏻

Sometimes we are in situations where we want ask about the appearance from someone How to do it? 

We present to you 4 simple questions that you can always use. If you want to learn them, keep reading!

How is?

This question is used to obtain general information about a person's physical appearance.

Example:

• What is Lara like? Lara is beautiful, tall and blonde.

This question can also be used to focus on specific parts of the person.

• What is your hair like? He has long, curly hair.
• What is your face like? He has a small nose and expressive eyes.
• How is your height?She is quite tall, measuring around 1.80.

What color is it...?

We ask this question to find out the color of a part of the person, such as the eyes, hair or skin.

Examples:

•  What color do you have your eyes? It has the green eyes.
• What color is your hair? He has dark brown hair.
• What color is the skin? He has tanned skin.

What clothes are you wearing?

If we want to know about the clothing from someone, we ask this question.

Example:

• What clothes are you wearing? He is wearing a white t-shirt and jeans.

Carry…?

This question is used to investigate if someone is wearing a specific garment or accessory.

Examples:

• Do you wear sunglasses? Yes, he wears black sunglasses
• Are you wearing a hat No, he's not wearing a hat.

Activity to practice

Is everything clear? Demonstrate it in the following exercise!

We present you sentences in which people are described. You must write the verbs be, have and carry in the correct form in the present indicative.

We do not tell you which verb you should choose, check this post and you will find out 😉. 

A little help: remember that the verb be  for describe is always followed by a adjective, and the verbs have and carry of a noun.

We have already finished this article. The description of people with the verbs be, have and carry is a basic topic of spanish that you must master.

In our school we dedicate several classes to this topic in the most basic levels.

If you want to start learning Spanish, with us you will do it in good company. 

Hispania, Spanish school It is known both for its quality of teaching and for its human quality throughout the team. With us you will feel at home.

Do you have any questions or comments you would like to make about the ways of describing that we have studied today?

If so, don't hesitate to comment.

Have a happy day!

Article written by Carlos Martinez for Hispania, Spanish school. 

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