Physical

Characteristics

Physical characteristics are defining traits or features about

your body. These are aspects that are visually apparent,
knowing nothing else about the person. The first thing you see
when you look at someone could be their hair, clothes, nose, or
figure.
How can we
describe
physical
characteristics?
When we give physical description, the two
most commun verbs to use are:

“BE” “HAVE”

 We use HAVE for:

 We use BE for:
 Hair (length)
 Height
 Hair style
 Weight
 Hair color
 Skin colour
 Facial features
Here are some examples:

BE HAVE

 I am short  Karla has long hair

 You are thin  I have wavy hair
 He is fair skinned  Tomas has Brown eyes
If you want to
combine hair  Lenght + style + colour + hair

characteristics  Sandra has long curly black hair

together in the  I have short wavy Brown hair

same
sentence, then
the structure is:
Haga clic en el icono para agregar una imagen
Body parts: finger
hand
wrist
forearm
head
elvow eye

cheek nose
mouth
Upper arm
chin

neck
breast
Body parts waist
vocabulary: belly

calf hip
knee
thigh
heel
foot
toe ankle
  Plump – rechoncha/o
 Stocky – rechoncha/o

Build Characteristics
 Overweight – exceso de peso
 Fat – gordo/a
 Pudgy - regordete

One of the  Medium build –construcción mediana

 Athletic – atlética
first things  Slender - esbelta
that will strike  Lanky – larguirucha
you is the  Fit – en forma
overall build  Slim - delgado

or body type.  Skinny - flaco

 Muscular - musculosa
 Well built - fornido
Height Characteristics

 Short - chaparro
Another area  Tall - alto

of physical  Petite – chiquito/a

appearance  Average height – altura media

 Gigantic – gigantesco
you may  Towering - imponente
consider is  Medium height – estatura mediana
how tall a
person is.
  Dark – piel oscura
 Light- piel clara
Complexion Characteristics
 Fair – piel blanca
 Rosy - sonrosadas
When describing
 Olive - oliva
someone's skin
tone and  Pale- palida
complexion, you  Bronzed - bronceado
may consider  Tan - bronceada
some of the  Pimply – con granos
following words.  Freckles - pecas
 Spots - manchas
 Pimples – espinillas/pecas
  Blond – rubio/a
 Auburn - castaño
 Red – pelirrojo
Hair Characteristics  Brown - castaño
 Black - negro
 Grey - gris
The words that  White - blanco
you'd use to  Long - largo
characterize  Matted - enmarañado
someone's hair  Short - corto
can describe  Curly - rizado
color, texture,  Frizzy - rizado
shape, length  Wavy - ondulado

and more.  Permed - permanente

 Straight – lacio
 Bald - calvo
Practice
describing
these people:
Describe your familly members

• How does my ( ) look like ?

• Dad
• Mom
• Brother/sister
• Best friend
• Boyfriend/girlfriend
   She is very beautiful although she isn’t very voluptuous and
she is average and slim. Her skin is white so she has fair
skin. She has shoulder-lenght, wavy, light brown hair. Her
face is oval, actually she has a very cute face and she has
Example : oval, dark brown eyes. Her eyebrows are brown and thin and
her eyelashes are long. She has a very beautiful sight and a
( best friend ) beautiful smile, too, because her lips are thin and her teeth
are brilliant and white. Also she has a small narrow nose.
You can also
use, what
kind of
clothes they
are wearing
example: