Décrire une personne: Physical Descriptions
Vocabulary for describing hair, eyes, height, build, and age — and the two sentence patterns that go with them.
You already know grand/petit, jeune/vieux, and beau/joli from earlier lessons. This lesson adds the vocabulary you need to actually describe someone's hair, eyes, height, and build — and the two patterns French uses to put it all together: il/elle a les cheveux + adjective, and il/elle est + adjective.
TWO PATTERNS FOR DESCRIBING SOMEONE:
PATTERN 1 — AVOIR + LES CHEVEUX + adjective: Elle a les cheveux bruns (she has brown hair). Il a les cheveux courts et bouclés (he has short, curly hair). Always LES (not ses) when describing hair colour/length/texture this way, and the adjective goes AFTER cheveux and agrees with cheveux (masculine plural).
PATTERN 2 — ÊTRE + adjective: for height, build, age, and other traits not tied to a body part: Elle est grande (she is tall). Il est mince et musclé (he is slim and muscular). Ils sont jeunes (they are young).
EYES USE THE SAME PATTERN AS HAIR: Il a les yeux bleus (he has blue eyes). Elle a les yeux marron (she has brown eyes) (marron never agrees).
GLASSES AND FACIAL HAIR USE AVOIR/PORTER, NOT ÊTRE: Elle porte des lunettes (she wears glasses). Il a une barbe (he has a beard). Not «Elle est des lunettes» — that doesn't exist.
Common mistake: putting the hair/eye adjective before cheveux/yeux: «des bruns cheveux» does not exist. Adjectives of colour always go after: «des cheveux bruns».
- Ma sœur a les cheveux longs et raides. — My sister has long, straight hair.
- Mon frère est grand et il a les yeux verts. — My brother is tall and has green eyes.
- Mon grand-père est âgé, mais il n'a pas les cheveux blancs. — My grandfather is elderly, but he doesn't have white hair.
- Elle porte des lunettes et elle a les cheveux châtains. — She wears glasses and has light brown hair.