The short version
- Most descriptions use three verbs: ser for what someone is like, tener for hair, eyes and beards, and llevar for clothes and glasses.
- To point someone out, use el de… or la de…: el de la barba (the guy with the beard).
- Soften descriptions with un poco or bastante, and be careful with words about weight and height.
You're meeting a friend of a friend in a busy bar, and a message comes through: ¿Cómo eres? Para reconocerte. (What do you look like? So I can spot you.) Describing people in Spanish comes up more often than you'd think. You'll do it when you point out someone across a room, tell a friend about your new boss, or explain who you mean when you've forgotten their name.
The good news is that it's quite a small topic. Three verbs do most of the work, and once you know which one goes with what, you just swap the words in and out.
Here are the verbs, the words, and how people in Spain actually put them together.
The three verbs you need
In English we use "is" and "has" for nearly everything. Spanish splits it up a bit more.
| Use it for | Verb and example | English |
|---|---|---|
| What someone is like, and general build | Ser: Es alto y muy simpático. | He's tall and really nice. |
| Hair, eyes, beard, features | Tener: Tiene el pelo rizado. | She's got curly hair. |
| Clothes, glasses, what they're wearing | Llevar: Lleva gafas. | He wears glasses. |
| How someone seems right now, or a change | Estar: Está muy moreno. | He's really tanned. |
That last one follows the same idea as in ser vs estar, made simple. Es moreno means he has dark hair (or a darker complexion). Está moreno means he's got a tan at the moment. Está más delgada means she's lost weight recently.
What someone looks like
Start with the things you'd actually use to describe a person you know. You don't need every hair colour and every body shape.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| alto / alta | tall |
| bajo / baja | short |
| de estatura media | medium height |
| delgado / delgada | slim |
| tiene el pelo largo / corto | has long / short hair |
| tiene el pelo rizado / liso | has curly / straight hair |
| moreno / morena | dark-haired |
| rubio / rubia | blond |
| pelirrojo / pelirroja | red-haired |
| tiene los ojos azules / marrones / verdes | has blue / brown / green eyes |
| tiene barba | has a beard |
| es calvo | is bald |
| lleva gafas | wears glasses |
Notice the el and los in tiene el pelo largo and tiene los ojos azules. English doesn't use "the" here, but Spanish does.
Moreno is one of the most useful words on the list. In Spain it's used for anyone with dark hair, so it covers a lot of people. Castaño (brown-haired) also exists, but in conversation you'll hear moreno much more.
In Spain you'll sometimes hear things like el gordito said about someone with no bad intention at all. As a learner, though, it's easy to sound ruder than you mean to. Skip gordo and viejo and use softer options: es un poco bajito (he's a bit on the short side), es mayor (she's older). Adding un poco or -ito makes most descriptions gentler.
What someone is like
Personality is where descriptions get interesting, and where you'll hear some words that are very typical of Spain.
| Spanish | English | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| majo / maja | nice, friendly | Very common, especially in central and northern Spain |
| simpático / simpática | nice, friendly | Used everywhere |
| gracioso / graciosa | funny | Makes people laugh |
| tímido / tímida | shy | |
| abierto / abierta | open, outgoing | |
| hablador / habladora | chatty | |
| tranquilo / tranquila | calm, laid-back | |
| cabezota | stubborn | Same for men and women |
| borde | rude, unfriendly | Informal and very Spanish |
| pesado / pesada | annoying, a pain | Often said with affection |
If you only learn one word from this table, make it majo or maja. People use it a lot for someone who's nice or easy to get on with, especially in central and northern Spain: Tu hermano es muy majo. Everyone understands it, and it's warm and casual.
Personality descriptions sound more natural with a small reason or example after them. Es muy maja. Siempre te pregunta cómo estás. (She's really nice. She always asks how you are.) The second sentence is what makes it a real description.
Pointing someone out
This is the part most learners never practise, and it's one of the most useful. In Spain, the easy way to say which person you mean is el de… or la de…, followed by the thing that makes them stand out.
- el de la barba (the guy with the beard)
- la de las gafas (the woman with the glasses)
- el del abrigo rojo (the one in the red coat)
- la alta (the tall one)
- el que está hablando con Marta (the one who's talking to Marta)
You can build it up if one detail isn't enough:
- ¿Ves a esa chica?Can you see that girl?
- ¿Ves a esa chica de las gafas?Can you see that girl with the glasses?
- ¿Ves a esa chica de las gafas, la que está al lado de la barra?Can you see that girl with the glasses, the one next to the bar?
- ¿Ves a esa chica de las gafas, la que está al lado de la barra? Es mi compañera de trabajo.Can you see that girl with the glasses, the one next to the bar? She's my colleague.
The same pattern works when you've forgotten someone's name, which happens to everyone. ¿Cómo se llama el alto, el que trabaja con tu hermano? (What's the tall guy called, the one who works with your brother?)
Putting it together
Here's a normal conversation where someone describes a new person in their life:
Parece… (he / she seems…) and Se parece a… (he / she looks like…) are two more to have ready. Se parece mucho a su madre means "She looks a lot like her mum". People say this about babies and children all the time, so if you have family in Spain, you'll hear it.
Practise with the people on your screen
Describing people is easier to practise than most topics, because you're surrounded by faces.
When you finish an episode of a series, pick one character and describe them out loud in four sentences: two about how they look, one about what they're like, and one about something they did. Es alta y tiene el pelo largo y moreno. Siempre lleva un abrigo largo. Es bastante borde, pero en el fondo es buena persona. Hoy ha discutido con su hermano. It's quick, you never run out of people, and you practise ser, tener and llevar in one go.
The same structures work for the people closest to you, so once this feels comfortable, how to talk about your family in Spanish is an easy next step. Many of the personality words also work for animals, as you'll see in how to talk about your pets in Spanish.
Common mistakes
Tengo ojos azules.
Tengo los ojos azules. Spanish uses the article.
Es pelo largo.
Tiene el pelo largo. Features use tener.
Tiene gafas to mean someone is wearing glasses.
Lleva gafas. What someone wears uses llevar.
Mi hermana es alto.
Mi hermana es alta. The adjective matches the person.
Using gordo or viejo to be descriptive.
Un poco bajito, es mayor, or just leave it out.
Recap
- Ser for what someone is like, tener for features, llevar for clothes and glasses.
- Use el and los with hair and eyes: tiene el pelo corto.
- Majo and maja are the everyday Spanish words for nice.
- Point people out with el de… and la de….
- Soften descriptions with un poco or bastante.
Describing people turns up in lots of conversations: family, friends, work and gossip. 100 Spanish Conversations covers these one theme a week, with the words and structures ready to practise out loud. If you'd like feedback, describe someone you know in the Skool community (no names needed).
Leeroy studied Spanish for years before moving to Spain and finding he couldn't hold a conversation. He built Basically Spanish around the method that fixed it. Questions? leeroy@basicallyspanish.com