Describing People

Physical Attributes: Start by learning the basics of describing physical appearance. Learn Spanish vocabulary for height (alto/ baja), hair (pelo negro/ rubio/ castaño/ pelirrojo), and eye colour (ojos azules/ verdes/ marrones/negras), among others.
Age: Be able to express age. For instance, ‘She is twenty years old’ translates to ‘Ella tiene veinte años’. Further, learn to ask someone’s age, ‘¿Cuántos años tienes?’
Personality Traits: Learn adjectives for describing personality, such as ‘amable/valiente/divertido’ (kind/brave/fun), ‘tímido/extrovertido’ (shy/extroverted), and ‘perezoso/ trabajador/ inteligente’ (lazy/ hardworking/ smart).
Profession and Jobs: Familiarize yourself with job and profession-related vocabulary. For example, ‘médico’ (doctor), ‘estudiante’ (student), ‘profesor’ (teacher), ‘abogado’ (lawyer), etc. Learn to construct sentences like ‘Mi hermano es abogado’ (My brother is a lawyer).
Hobbies and Interests: Useful for describing what you or others like to do in spare time like ‘Me gusta bailar’ (I like to dance), ‘Me encanta leer’ (I love to read). Learn related words like ‘libros’ (books), ‘música’ (music), ‘deportes’ (sports), ‘pintura’ (painting), etc.
Relationships: Understand vocabulary to express family and friendship relationships like ‘hermana’ (sister), ‘hermano’ (brother), ‘madre’ (mother), ‘padre’ (father), ‘amigo/amiga’ (friend).
Common verbs: Make sure to revise common verbs such as ‘ser’, ‘estar’, ‘tener’, to help you describe people effectively. E.g., ‘Ella es alta’ (She is tall), ‘Ellos están contentos’ (They are happy), ‘Tengo dos hermanos’ (I have two brothers).
Positive and negative descriptions: Consider learning a range of positive and negative adjectives for a comprehensive description. For instance, ‘generoso’ (generous), ‘egoísta’ (selfish), ‘feliz’ (happy), ‘triste’ (sad).
Comparisons: Learn to use comparative structures such as ‘más…que’ (more…than) or ‘menos…que’ (less…than) for comparison purposes. For example, ‘Mi hermano es más alto que yo’ (My brother is taller than me).
Practice: Practice describing different people, considering a wide variety of appearances, personality and life scenarios. The more you practise, the more comfortable you’ll feel doing it. Remember, exact words are less important than getting the main point across.