Learning to describe people is a fundamental and exciting step in your Spanish learning journey. It’s a practical skill that unlocks everyday conversations, allowing you to talk about your friends, family, and the people you meet. For anyone targeting the DELE A1 exam, this topic is not just important—it’s essential.

This guide will walk you through the key vocabulary and structures you need to describe both physical appearance and personality traits with confidence.

The Foundation: Key Verbs for Descriptions

Before we dive into adjectives, you need the right verbs to build your sentences. The two most important ones are:

• Ser (To be): We use “ser” for permanent or inherent characteristics, like someone’s fundamental physical traits or personality.
  • Ejemplo: Él es alto. (He is tall.)
  • Ejemplo: Ella es muy simpática. (She is very nice.)
  • 💡 Practice: Conjugate “ser” in all tenses using our Spanish Verb Conjugation Tool.
• Tener (To have): We use “tener” (to have) for features that someone possesses.
  • Ejemplo: Tengo el pelo castaño. (I have brown hair.)
  • Ejemplo: Ellos tienen los ojos azules. (They have blue eyes.)
  • 💡 Practice: Master “tener” with our Spanish Verb Conjugation Tool.

Describing Physical Appearance (Apariencia Física)

Let’s break down physical descriptions into manageable categories.

1. Height, Build, and Age:

• Height (Altura): alto/a (tall), bajo/a (short), de estatura media (average height)
• Build (Complexión): delgado/a (thin), flaco/a (skinny), gordo/a (fat), fuerte (strong), musculoso/a (muscular)
• Age (Edad): joven (young), mayor (old), anciano/a (elderly)

2. Hair (Pelo/Cabello):

• Length: largo (long), corto (short), mediano (medium length), calvo (bald)
• Color: rubio (blonde), castaño (brown), pelirrojo (redhead), negro (black), canoso (gray)
• Type: liso (straight), rizado (curly), ondulado (wavy)

3. Eyes (Ojos):

• Color: azules (blue), verdes (green), marrones/cafés (brown), negros (black), grises (gray)

4. Other Distinctive Features:

• Ella tiene… (She has…): gafas/anteojos (glasses), pecas (freckles)
• Él tiene… (He has…): barba (beard), bigote (moustache)

Describing Personality (Personalidad)

While physical traits are visual, personality adjectives help you express who a person is. These are almost always used with the verb “ser”.

• Positive Traits: simpático/a (nice), amable (kind), divertido/a (funny), inteligente (intelligent), trabajador/a (hard-working), paciente (patient)
• Neutral/Negative Traits: serio/a (serious), tímido/a (shy), perezoso/a (lazy), antipático/a (unpleasant)

Putting It All Together: Example Sentences

See how we can combine these elements to create full, vivid descriptions. Notice how the verbs ser and tener form the backbone of each sentence.

• Mi hermana es joven. Ella tiene el pelo largo y rubio, y los ojos azules. Es muy inteligente y divertida.
  (My sister is young. She has long, blonde hair and blue eyes. She is very intelligent and funny.)
• Mi jefe es un hombre mayor. Él es calvo y tiene un bigote grande. Es una persona muy seria pero trabajadora.
  (My boss is an older man. He is bald and has a large moustache. He is a very serious but hard-working person.)
• Los niños son bajos y tienen pecas en la cara. Son muy amables con los demás.
  (The children are short and have freckles on their faces. They are very kind to others.)

Practice Makes Perfect: Your Path to Fluency

1. Master the Verbs: The key to great descriptions is correct verb conjugation. Use our Spanish Verb Conjugation Tool to practice ser, tener, and other essential verbs.
2. Build Your Vocabulary: Create flashcards for the adjectives listed above.
3. Write Your Own Descriptions: Try describing people you know using the sentence structures from this article.

Ready to Test Your Skills?

Now that you’ve reviewed the essential vocabulary and grammar for describing people in Spanish, it’s time to put your knowledge to the test!

We’ve created a specialized DELE A1 Spanish Adjectives Quiz: Describe People to help you practice and solidify what you’ve learned. You’ll get immediate feedback on each answer, making it the perfect tool for your DELE A1 exam preparation.

Take the quiz now and see how well you can describe people in Spanish!

Practice Now: DELE A1 Adjectives to Describe People Quiz