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Les descriptions
Setting up an online dating profile, talking to friends about someone you met, bragging about a new baby, and telling the police about a suspect have one thing in common: physical descriptions. Learn all the French vocabulary you need to describe the most common physical characteristics.
Asking for a description
To ask what a person looks like, you need the verb être (to be):
What does he look like? | Comment est-il ? | |
What does she look like? | Comment est-elle ? |
Giving a description
When describing someone, the verb you need depends on which characteristic you’re talking about. General characteristics need être.
He / She is… | Il est… | Elle est… |
athletic | athlétique | athlétique |
bald | chauve | chauve |
balding | dégarni | dégarnie |
beautiful | belle | |
fat | gros | grosse |
handsome | beau, joli | |
pretty | jolie | |
short | petit | petite |
skinny | maigre | maigre |
tall | grand | grande |
thin | mince | mince |
ugly | moche, laid | moche, laide |
weak | faible | faible |
He / She is… | Il est… | Elle est… |
black | noir black (informal) |
noire black |
dark-skinned | brun (de peau) à peau brune |
brune (de peau) à peau brune |
fair-skinned | à peau claire | à peau claire |
pale | pâle | pâle |
ruddy, florid | rougeaud | rougeaude |
tanned | bronzé | bronzée |
white | blanc | blanche |
When describing a specific part of the body, you need the verb avoir (to have).
He / She has… | Il / Elle a… | ||
blue | eyes | les yeux | bleus |
brown | bruns | ||
green | verts | ||
hazel | noisette | ||
black | hair | les cheveux | noirs |
blond | blonds | ||
brown | châtains, bruns | ||
gray | gris | ||
red | roux | ||
long | longs | ||
short | courts | ||
straight | raides | ||
wavy | ondulés | ||
curly | bouclés | ||
a beard | une barbe | ||
dimples | des fossettes | ||
freckles | des taches de rousseur | ||
a mustache | une moustache | ||
a scar | une cicatrice | ||
a tattoo | un tatouage | ||
wrinkles | des rides |
Related lessons
French lesson plans
- Describe and compare (Lesson, 8th-9th grade)
- Guess who? (Worksheet, K-2nd grade)
En español
In italiano
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