How to Describe People:

Appearance and Personality

There are two ways to describe people in English. You can describe
people’s appearance and personality.

You can describe a person’s personality by saying things like:

 She is really nice.

 They are really cool friends.
 We are very friendly people.

You can describe a person’s physical appearance by saying things like:

 She is really tall.

 She has brown eyes.
 She has black curly hair.

Something that you have to keep in mind is that there are positive and
negative things that you can say about someone’s personality and
appearance so I strongly advise to be cautious when using some of the
words presented here.

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Vocabulary to Describe Physical Appearance
Height

Tall She is very tall.

Short He is short.

Build

Skinny (sıska/cılız) She is skinny.

Thin (ince/zayıf) I am thin.

Fat (şişman/tombul) I am not fat.

Overweight
He is overweight.
(kilolu/obez)

Slim (narin/zayıf/ince) You are slim.

Hair

Blonde (sarışın) You are blonde.

Brown hair
She has brown hair.
(kahverengi saç)

Red hair (kızıl saç) I have red hair.

Black hair (siyah saç) She has black hair.

Grey hair (gri saç) He has grey hair.

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Eyes

Grey eyes I have grey eyes.

Green eyes She has green eyes.

Blue eyes I have blue eyes.

Brown eyes Does she have brown eyes?

Dark eyes Does he have dark eyes?

Type of Hair

Long hair Does she have long hair?

Short hair Does he have short hair?

Wavy hair She has wavy hair.

Curly hair I have curly hair.

Straight hair We have straight hair.

Personality in English
Personality refers to individual differences in characteristic patterns of
thinking, feeling and behaving.

The study of personality focuses on two broad areas: One is

understanding individual differences in particular personality
characteristics, such as sociability or irritability.

The other is understanding how the various parts of a person come

together as a whole.

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Positive Adjectives to Describe Personality
These are some examples of positive adjectives to describe personality:

Friendly
Kind Charming
(arkadaşça/cana
(kibar/nazik) (cazibeli/alımlı/çekici)
yakın)

Adventurous Honest Hardworking

(maceralı) (dürüst) (çalışkan)

Likeable
Polite Considerate
(sempatik/hoşa
(kibar/nazik) (düşünceli/hürmetkar)
giden/sevimli/hoş)

Understanding Optimistic Sincere

(anlayışlı) (iyimser) (içten/samimi)

Straight Forward Helpful Patient

(doğru/dürüst/şerefli) (yardımsever) (sabırlı)

Bright Reliable Enthusiastic

(parlak/aydınlık) (güvenilir) (coşkulu/hevesli)

Laid-back
Hilarious Easy-going
(rahat kimse/geniş
(eğlendirici/neşeli) (rahat/uyumlu)
davranan)

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Negative Adjectives to Describe Personality in English
These are some examples of negative adjectives to describe personality
in English

Aggressive Bossy Grumpy

(saldırgan/kavgacı) (otoriter/buyurgan) (huysuz)

Tactless
Impulsive Picky
(patavatsız/
(düşüncesiz/fevri/ (seçici/zor
münasebetsiz/
Atılgan) beğenir/titiz)
nezaketsiz)

Arrogant Mean
Considerate
(kibirli/küstah/burnu (cimri/eli sıkı/fena/
(düşünceli/anlayışlı)
havada) baş belası/mahcup)

Nasty Sneaky Dogmatic

(edepsiz/pis/ (sinsi/içten (inakçı/dogmatik/
İğrenç/açık saçık) pazarlıklı) İnanca dayalı)

Intolerant
Jealous Possessive
(hoşgörüsüz/
(kıskanç/haset) (hakim/sahip çıkan)
tahammülsüz)

Lazy Careless
Irresponsible
(tembel/uyuşuk/ (umursamaz/ilgisiz/
(sorumsuz)
miskin) aldırışsız)

Gullible Moody
Pessimistic
(kolay aldatılabilir/ (huysuz/umutsuz/
(karamsar/kötümser)
ahmak/avanak) Karamsar)

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Quantifiers about Personality in English
These are some quantifiers to use when talking about personality in
English:

very quite

somewhat so

just really

pretty a little

kind of sort of

How to Talk about Personality in English

These are some phrases to describe your personality in English:

I would say that I am

I would say that I am …
extroverted

I’m … I’m an easy going person

I have … I have a good sense of humor

I describe myself as an
I describe myself
optimistic person

I guess I’m I guess I’m moody

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 These are examples that include some of the positive and
adjectives to describe personality in English:

1. He is shy, he never talks to anybody

2. She is talkative, she never stops talking
3. I consider myself lazy, I don’t like to work hard
4. He is always kind with new students
5. My dad is optimistic, he thinks everything is going to be
alright
6. We are very bright students
7. They are very funny, they always make friends laugh.
8. She is quiet, She never says much
9. He is a very honest man, he will tell you the truth
10. She is jealous, she doesn’t want others to win.
11. I am very brave, I face dangerous and difficult
situations.
12. Mike is clever, he is good at learning things.
13. He is an easy-going guy, definitely a guy who is easy
to get a long with.
14. James is so lucky, he bought a lottery and he won.
15. Lucas is tidy, his desk is well organized.
16. Maria is very irresponsible, she never does her
homework.

Personality Conversation Questions

These are conversation questions that can help you talk about
personality.

First Set – Personality Conversation Questions

1. What makes you happy?

2. What makes you angry?
3. Are you happy with your personality?
4. Are you shy? Do you make friends easily?
5. Are you an outgoing person?
6. How do you organize files in your computers?
7. What kinds of people do you get along well with?
8. can you think of ten verbs to describe personality?

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 9. having a great personality makes you attractive?
10. What characteristics does a leader need to have?
11. How would you describe a brave person?

Second Set – Personality Conversation Questions

1. How are male and female personalities different?

2. How has your personality changed over the years?
3. What personality types are you attracted to?
4. How would you describe your best friend?
5. How would you describe your husband or wife?
6. How would you describe your favorite teacher?
7. Do you consider yourself an optimistic person?
8. Do you consider yourself a negative person?
9. Do you consider yourself a hardworking person?
10. Do you consider yourself a confident person?
11. How would you describe an easy-going person?

Third Set – Personality Conversation Questions

1. Can you describe your personality?

2. Do you consider yourself a lazy person?
3. Are you a patient or your impatient person?
4. How would you describe an introvert person?
5. How would you describe an extrovert person?
6. Do you consider yourself a jealous person?
7. Would you like to be different?
8. Are you happy with your personality?
9. Do you think that you are selfish person?
10. Are you a determined person? Are you a stubborn
person?
11. How would you describe a courageous person?

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 Table of Contents

 1 Vocabulary to Describe Physical Appearance

 2 Personality in English
 2.1 Positive Adjectives to Describe Personality
 2.2 Negative Adjectives to Describe Personality in English
 2.3 Quantifiers about Personality in English
 2.4 How to Talk about Personality in English
 3 Personality Conversation Questions
 3.1 First Set – Personality Conversation Questions
 3.2 Second Set – Personality Conversation Questions
 3.3 Third Set – Personality Conversation Questions
 4 Related Articles

Related Articles
Check some of these lessons before you go:

How to Describe Physical Appearance in English


 How to Talk about Hobbies in English
 How to Greet and Introduce Yourself in English
 How to Talk about Sport in English
Check some of these pronunciation resources before you go:

My 6 Best Pronunciation Websites


 The Best Apps to Study English Pronunciation
And finally bookmark these posts as they can help you later

 The Most Common Phrasal Verbs in English

 The Most Common Idioms in English

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