Vocabulary

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Describing a person's appearance:

AGE: young (joven), old (viejo), middle-aged (de medianan edad), twenty-something (veintitantos), mid-fifties (alrededor de cincuenta y cinco), over seventy (más e setenta), in his teens (adolescente), in his late twenties (veintimuchos) in his early thirties (treinta y pocos).

FACE: a moustache (bigote), a beard (barba), wrinkles (arrugas), a double chin (papada), brown/blue/hazel/dark eyes ( ojos marrones/azules/ avellana/ oscuros ), skin tanned (piel bronceada)

HAIR: long (largo), short (corto), wavy( ondulado), straight (liso), curly (rizado), a fringe (flequillo) , bald (calvo), blonde (rubio), shoulder-length hair (por los hombros).

HEIGHT AND BUILD: tall (alto), short (bajo), medium-height ( de mediana estatura), fat ( gordo), slim (esbelto), thin ( delgado), skinny (flaco), chubby ( regordete), athletic ( atlético), strong ( fuerte), weak (débil), in good physical shape (en buena forma física), sporty (deportivo)

Describing someone

Describing someone

Look at the picture and read the text describing her physical appearance.

pretty girl

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personal description

This is a very beautiful girl. She must be twenty-something. She's got light brown hair which is shoulder-length and straight and her eyes are hazel and almond-shaped. Her expression is nice and sweet as if she were about to start smiling at someone. She is quite thin (but not skinny) and tall and she also looks sporty and in very good physical shape; she's wearing a patterned mini-skirt, and a tank top and she's got white sandals on. I would say she regularly practises some sport. She's definitely an attractive woman.

Important

In English, the rules for adjective order are very complicated.

Here is, however, the list of some of the most important rules:

Adjectives of colour, origin, material and purpose usually go in that order.

	Colour	origin	material	purpose	noun
	*red*	*Spanish*	*leather*	*riding*	boots
A	*brown*	*German*		*beer*	mug
A		*Venetian*	*glass*	*flower*	vase

Other adjectives usually go before words of colour, origin, material and purpose. It is impossible to give exact rules, but adjectives of size, length and height often comefirst.

The round glass table (NOT the glass round table)
A big, modern brick house (NOT a modern, big brick house)
Long, flexible steel poles

Adjectives which express opinions or attitudes usually come before all others. Examples are lovely, definite, pure, absolute, extreme, perfect, wonderful, silly.

A lovely, long, cool drink
Who's that silly fat man over there?

Numbers usually go before adjectives. And First, next and last most often go before one, two, three etc.

Six large eggs The second big shock The first three days My last two jobs."

Age is not mentioned, which would normally go after adjectives of size, length and height, but before colour, origin, material and purpose.

A big old straw hat. A charming young university student