Características físicas y de personalidad
Now that you have learned about subject pronouns, the verb ser, and gender and number agreement, let’s learn how to describe ourselves and those around us! Keep in mind that some descriptive adjectives will be neutral and not have agreement in gender but some will need to agree in gender with the person or thing they are describing.
El verbo ser (The Verb “ser”)
We use the verb ser to describe physical attributes that are more of a permanent state, even if they were to change, they don’t change drastically from one day to the next. With the verb ser we describe height (estatura), age (edad), hair (cabello), and build (complexión).
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- El niño es pequeño. 👦🏽
- The boy is small.
- La abuela es mayor. 👵🏽
- The grandmother is old.
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- Alpi, la gata, es flaca/delgada. 🐈
- Alpi, the cat, is skinny.
- Theo es un gato gordo. 😸
- Theo is a fat cat.
Note: It is not uncommon to use the adjectives flaco/a and gordo/a as a term of endearment for people or pets in Spanish-speaking cultures regardless of the person’s or animal’s literal build. Often times the diminutive is used by adding -ito/a to the adjective, as well, to make it even cuter. For example:
- Oki es una gatita gordita. 😻
- Oki is a little chubby cat.
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- El papá es alto y la niña es baja.
- The dad is tall and the girl is short.
- Mi hermana es de estatura media/mediana.
- My sister is of medium/average height.
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- Lila es morena. 👩🏽🦱
- Lila is a brunette.
- Yo soy pelirroja. 🧑🏻🦰
- I am a red head.
Note: The word moreno/a can mean different things depending on the country you’re in. For example, in the Caribbean, in countries like Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic, the term would be used to describe a person who is tan or of darker complexion. However, in Spain and most Latin American countries the term is used for dark hair.
El verbo tener (The Verb “To Have”)
The verb tener, which you will explore further in the following section, means to have. We describe eye color (color de ojos), hair length (largo del cabello/pelo), hair texture (textura del cabello), and hair color (color de pelo), all of these pertaining to physical descriptions. Your sentence must follow the pattern: tener (conjugated) + noun with definite article + descriptive adjective.
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- Yo tengo los ojos marrones.
- I have brown eyes.
- Tú tienes los ojos verdes.
- You have green eyes.
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- Alisa tiene el pelo corto.
- Alisa has short hair.
- Él tiene el pelo medio corto.
- He has semi-short/semi-long hair.
- Deanna tiene el pelo largo.
- Deanna has long hair.
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- Cynthia tiene el pelo lacio.
- Cynthia has straight hair.
- Yo tengo el pelo rizo.
- I have curly hair.
- Babi tiene trenzas.
- Babi has braids.
Check-in Activity
So far, we have looked at descriptive adjectives referring to physical traits. Let’s take a look now at some adjectives that you can use to express personality traits:
Características de personalidad (Personality Traits)
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- simpático/a
- friendly
- antipático/a
- unfriendly
- sociable
- sociable
- tímido/a
- shy
- inteligente
- intelligent
- divertido/a
- fun/funny
- trabajador/a
- hard-working
- perezoso/a
- lazy
- optimista
- optimistic
- pesimista
- pessimistic
- sensible
- sensitive
- agresivo/a
- aggressive
Note: You may have noticed that some adjectives already end in an –e, these adjectives are already neutral and work for any gender, including non-binary folks. However, the adjectives presented above, in binary terms (–o/–a), can always be made non-binary by using –e at the end.
Ejemplos/Examples:
- Mis amigos son sensibles. 🥺
- My friends are sensitive.
- Fernando es muy antipático. 😒
- Fernando is very unfriendly.
- Laura es inteligente. 🤓
- Laura is intelligent.
- Marta es trabajadora. 🤓
- Marta is hard-working.
- Luis es tímide. 🫣
- Luis is shy.
Now, let’s look at demonyms, which are words used to express origin. Remember, they are also considered descriptive adjectives, and therefore, must agree in gender and number with the word they are describing:
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Gentilicios (Demonyms)
- argentino/a 🇦🇷
- Argentinian
- boliviano/a 🇧🇴
- Bolivian
- brasileño/a 🇧🇷
- Brazilian
- británico/a 🇬🇧
- British
- canadiense 🇨🇦
- Canadian
- chileno/a 🇨🇱
- Chilean
- chino/a 🇨🇳
- Chinese
- colombiano/a 🇨🇴
- Colombian
- costarricense 🇨🇷
- Costa Rican
- croata 🇭🇷
- Croatian
- coreano/a 🇰🇷
- Korean
- cubano/a 🇨🇺
- Cuban
- dominicano/a 🇩🇴
- Dominican
- ecuatoriano/a 🇪🇨
- Ecuadorian
- ecuatoguineano/a 🇬🇶
- Equatorial Guinean
- español/a 🇪🇸
- Spanish
- escocés/a 🏴
- Scottish
- estadounidense 🇺🇲
- U.S. American
- francés/a 🇫🇷
- French
- guatemalteco/a 🇬🇹
- Guatemalan
- hondureño/a 🇭🇳
- Honduran
- indio/a 🇮🇳
- Indian
- inglés/a 🏴
- English
- irlandés/a 🇮🇪
- Irish
- italiano/a 🇮🇹
- Italian
- japonés/a 🇯🇵
- Japanese
- mexicano/a 🇲🇽
- Mexican
- nicaragüense 🇳🇮
- Nicaraguan
- nigeriano/a 🇳🇬
- Nigerian
- panameño/a 🇵🇦
- Panamanian
- paraguayo/a 🇵🇾
- Paraguayan
- peruano/a 🇵🇪
- Peruvian
- puertorriqueño/a 🇵🇷
- Puerto Rican
- ruso/a 🇷🇺
- Russian
- salvadoreño/a 🇸🇻
- Salvadorean
- singapurense 🇸🇬
- Singaporean
- trinitense 🇹🇹
- Trinidadian
- turco/a 🇹🇷
- Turkish
- uruguayo/a 🇺🇾
- Uruguayan
- venezolano/a 🇻🇪
- Venezuelan
Note: Notice that all of the demonyms in Spanish have been written in lowercase; as a rule demonyms (e.g., Yo soy colombiano) and derivatives of the cardinal points (e.g. el norte) as well as the names of ethnic groups and tribes will always be written in lowercase.
Check-in Activity
Nota cultural: “I Was Already in America”
The term “American” has long been used to refer to someone from the United States. However, today this usage is increasingly considered a form of language that erases or overlooks the existence of other countries in the Americas, which include North, Central and South America. When we say "European", we automatically think of Italians or French people, to name a few... So why does "American" only seem to refer to one country in the Americas? In Spanish you can say "estadounidense" instead of saying “americano/a/e” in order to be as regionally specific as possible.
Watch the following clip of the Mexican actor Gael García in the film Me estás matando, Susana (2016) that exemplifies this matter:
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