Describing people’s height
To describe people’s size, use a form of êٰ (to be) and then the adjective, which usually changes its ending depending on whether the person is masculine or feminine.
- Mon père est grand - My dad is ٲ.
- Ma mère est grande - My mum is ٲ.
- Ma sœur est de taille moyenne - My sister is medium height.
- Mon demi-frère est petit - My step-brother is ǰ.
- Ma grand-mère est petite - My grandmother is ǰ.
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You can use intensifiers (words that add ‘force’ to an adjective) such as ٰè (very) and assez (quite) to add more information.
- Je suis ٰè grand(e) - I am very ٲ.
- Mon grand-père est assez petit - My grandfather is quite ǰ.
Comparing people’s heights
To compare two people, use the following sentence structure:
Person one + a form of êٰ (to be) | more / less + adjective | ٳ/ | person two |
---|---|---|---|
Je suis (I am) | plus grand(e) (ٲ) | que (ٳ) | mon frère (my brother) |
Ma sœur est (My sister is) | moins grande (less tall / not as tall) | que (ٳ/) | ma mère (my mum) |
Describing hair
To talk about your hair, use a form of avoir (to have), followed by les cheveux (hair) and then give the colour or another adjective to describe your hair.
- J’ai les cheveux bruns - I have brown hair.
- Il a les cheveux bruns et ڰé - He has brown, curly hair.
If you want to use more than one adjective to describe your hair, use et before the last adjective:
- J’ai les cheveux blonds, longs et dzܳé - I have long, blond, wavy hair.
The adjectives all need to have an ‘s’ on the end, as les cheveux is masculine and plural, except roux and gris, as they don’t change when masculine and plural.
French | Բ |
---|---|
j'ai les cheveux … | I have … hair |
il / elle a les cheveux … | he / she has … hair |
bruns | brown |
noirs | black |
roux | red / ginger |
blonds | blond |
gris | grey |
longs | long |
courts | short |
raides | straight |
dzܳé | wavy |
ڰé | curly |
Describing eye colour
To talk about eye colour, use ’a (I have) or il a/elle a (he has/she has), followed by les yeux (eyes) and then give the colour.
The adjectives all need to have an ‘s’ on the end, as les yeux is masculine and plural, except marron, noisette and gris, as they don’t change when used in the masculine and plural.
- J’ai les yeux verts - I have green eyes.
- J’ai les yeux marron - I have brown eyes.
French | English |
---|---|
’a les yeux … | I have … eyes |
il / elle a les yeux … | he / she has … eyes |
bleus | blue |
marron | brown |
verts | green |
gris | grey |
noisette | hazel |
Describing other features
There are lots of other things you can say about someone’s appearance. Here are a few more examples:
French | English |
---|---|
’a des taches de rousseur | I have freckles |
je porte des lunettes | I wear glasses |
je porte le hijab / je porte le voile | I wear a hijab / headscarf |
je porte un turban | I wear a turban |
il a une barbe | he has a beard |
il a une moustache | he has a moustache |
il est chauve | he is bald |
Describing personalities
There are lots of adjectives you can use to talk about people’s personalities.
Most adjective endings change depending on whether the person you are talking about is male or female. Usually, you add an ‘e’ to the adjective to describe a female person:
- Mon copain, qui s’appelle Nabil, est amusant et ٰè bavard - My (male) friend, Nabil, is funny and very chatty.
- Ma copine, qui s’appelle Anya, est amusante et ٰè bavarde - My (female) friend, Anya is funny and very chatty.
Sometimes, you need to change the last consonant and add an ‘e’ to make an adjective feminine. With some adjectives, you have to double the consonant and add an ‘e’.
- Mon copain, qui s’appelle Nabil, est gentil et ٰè sportif - My (male) friend, Nabil, is kind and very sporty.
- Ma copine, qui s’appelle Anya, est gentille et ٰè sportive - My (female) friend, Anya is kind and very sporty.
Some adjectives don’t change when they are feminine.
- Mon copain, qui s’appelle Nabil, est sympa et ٰè ô - My (male) friend, Nabil, is nice and very funny.
- Ma copine, qui s’appelle Anya, est sympa ٰè ô - My (female) friend, Anya is nice and very funny.
Here are some great adjectives you can use to describe people’s personalities:
Masculine | Feminine | English |
---|---|---|
amusant | amusante | funny / fun |
bavard | bavarde | chatty |
ԳéԳ | ԳéԳe | interesting |
strict | stricte | strict |
sportif | sportive | sporty |
éپ | éپve | creative |
travailleur | travailleuse | hard-working |
paresseux | paresseuse | lazy |
ennuyeux | ennuyeuse | boring |
gentil | gentille | kind |
sympa | sympa | nice |
ô | ô | funny |
Quiz
Watch the video and find out how much you know about describing people in French in this short quiz.
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