Personality Traits in Spanish: A1 Vocabulary Guide

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Key Takeaways

• Learn essential Spanish adjectives to describe personality and character
• Master the difference between “ser” and “estar” for permanent vs. temporary traits
• Understand how to make adjectives agree in gender (masculine/feminine)
• Practice describing your own personality and the character of friends and family
• Build phrases for talking about what people are like

Describe Character and Personality

Learning to describe personality is key to talking about yourself, your friends, family, and new people you meet. Unlike feelings, which are temporary, personality traits are generally considered more permanent characteristics, so we use the verb ser (to be).

Positive Personality Traits (Rasgos de Personalidad Positivos)

English	Spanish	Example Sentence
Nice / Friendly	simpático/simpática	Mi amigo es muy simpático. (My friend is very nice.)
Funny	gracioso/graciosa	Mi hermano es gracioso. (My brother is funny.)
Intelligent	inteligente	La profesora es inteligente. (The teacher is intelligent.)
Hard-working	trabajador/trabajadora	Soy una persona trabajadora. (I am a hard-working person.)
Patient	paciente	Tú eres muy paciente. (You are very patient.)
Kind	amable	El hombre es amable. (The man is kind.)
Happy / Cheerful	alegre	Ella es siempre alegre. (She is always cheerful.)
Responsible	responsable	Somos estudiantes responsables. (We are responsible students.)
Creative	creativo/creativa	Los artistas son creativos. (Artists are creative.)
Calm	tranquilo/tranquila	Mi padre es tranquilo. (My father is calm.)

💡 Grammar Note: We use the verb ser (to be) for permanent personality traits: “Él es simpático,” “Ella es inteligente.” This is a fundamental rule! Learn more: Ser vs. Estar: A1 Grammar Guide

Negative Personality Traits (Rasgos de Personalidad Negativos)

English	Spanish	Example Sentence
Unfriendly	antipático/antipática	El vecino es antipático. (The neighbor is unfriendly.)
Serious	serio/seria	Mi jefe es una persona seria. (My boss is a serious person.)
Lazy	perezoso/perezosa	El gato es perezoso. (The cat is lazy.)
Impatient	impaciente	Los niños a veces son impacientes. (Children are sometimes impatient.)
Quiet / Shy	callado/callada	Ella es callada en clase. (She is quiet in class.)
Nervous	nervioso/nerviosa	Está nervioso antes del examen. (He is nervous before the exam.) Note: This can be temporary, so “estar” is also used.
Boring	aburrido/aburrida	El libro es aburrido. (The book is boring.)
Selfish	egoísta	Es egoísta con su dinero. (He is selfish with his money.)
Messy	desordenado/desordenada	Mi hermano es desordenado. (My brother is messy.)
Stubborn	terco/terca	Mi abuela es muy terca. (My grandmother is very stubborn.)

Describing Yourself and Others (Describirse a Uno Mismo y a Otros)

Useful Phrases:

• “¿Cómo eres?” (What are you like?)
• “Soy una persona…” (I am a person who…)
• “Creo que soy…” (I think I am…)
• “Mi mejor amigo es…” (My best friend is…)
• “Mi madre es…” (My mother is…)

Example Descriptions:

• “Soy una persona tranquila y trabajadora.” (I am a calm and hard-working person.)
• “Mi amiga Ana es muy alegre y creativa.” (My friend Ana is very cheerful and creative.)
• “Mis compañeros de clase son simpáticos.” (My classmates are nice.)

🔍 Grammar Focus: Notice how adjectives must agree with the noun in gender and number. “Soy trabajadoro” (if male) vs “Soy trabajadora” (if female). “Mis amigos son simpáticos” (masculine plural). This is called adjective agreement. Master it: Spanish Adjective Agreement: A1 Guide

Noun Agreement with Adjectives (La Concordancia)

Adjectives change their ending to match the gender and number of the person/people they describe.

Masculine	Feminine	Masculine Plural	Feminine Plural
El chico es trabajador.	La chica es trabajadora.	Los chicos son trabajadores.	Las chicas son trabajadoras.
El hombre es alto.	La mujer es alta.	Los hombres son altos.	Las mujeres son altas.

Adjectives ending in -e or consonant often stay the same for masculine and feminine:

• inteligente (masc. & fem.)
• joven (masc. & fem.) – young
• amable (masc. & fem.)
• egoísta (masc. & fem.)

Putting It All Together: Describing People

Conversation 1: Meeting a New Person
Carlos: Hola, soy Carlos. ¿Cómo eres?
Laura: Hola Carlos. Soy una persona tranquila y creativa. Me gusta leer y pintar. ¿Y tú?
Carlos: Yo soy bastante trabajador y un poco serio, pero también soy amable.
Laura: ¡Excelente!

Translation:
Carlos: Hi, I’m Carlos. What are you like?
Laura: Hi Carlos. I am a calm and creative person. I like to read and paint. And you?
Carlos: I am quite hard-working and a bit serious, but I am also kind.
Laura: Excellent!

Conversation 2: Talking About Family
Pablo: ¿Cómo es tu familia?
Elena: Mi madre es muy paciente e inteligente. Mi padre es gracioso y alegre. Y mi hermana es un poco perezosa, pero es simpática.
Pablo: Suena como una familia genial.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Using “estar” for personality: Use ser, not estar, for permanent traits.
2. Forgetting gender agreement: “Él es alto“, “Ella es alta“.
3. Confusing “serio” with “serious”: “Serio” means solemn/earnest, not necessarily “important.”
4. Misusing “nervioso”: Can be a temporary state (using “estar”) or a personality trait (using “ser”).
5. Not making plurals: “Mis amigos son inteligentes.”

Quick Reference Chart

Category	Spanish Vocabulary
Positive Traits	simpático, inteligente, trabajador, amable, alegre
Negative Traits	antipático, perezoso, serio, egoísta, terco
Key Verb	ser (for permanent traits)
Describing Phrases	“¿Cómo eres?”, “Soy…”, “Mi amigo es…”
Grammar Rules	Adjective agreement (gender & number)

Practice Exercise: Describe Someone You Know

Try describing a friend or family member in Spanish:

• 3 personality traits
• Use the correct form of “ser”
• Make sure adjectives agree in gender

Example: “Mi amigo David es simpático, inteligente y gracioso. Es una persona muy alegre.”

📚 Grammar Tools
Practice conjugating the verb “ser”: Spanish Verb Conjugation Tool

Ready to Practice?

Think you can describe personality in Spanish? Test your knowledge of character traits!

Take Our Personality Traits Quiz ►

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