Updated on August 2, 2024
Adjectives to describe a person in Spanish
There are numerous adjectives to describe a person in Spanish in either positive or negative ways. Every individual has a distinct character, physical appearance and behavior. To liven up your Spanish conversations and improve your language skills, how to describe personalities is definitely an important practice. Some common Spanish personality adjectives are: amable (kind), simpático/a (nice), divertido/a (fun, inteligente (intelligent) for the positives; egoísta (selfish), perezoso/a (lazy), aburrido/a (boring), or tacaño/a (stingy) outline negative traits instead.
Using adjectives in Spanish is a little different from English. In Spanish, adjectives and nouns must agree in gender and number. For this reason, people wonder if Spanish is hard to learn. Thankfully, the adjective-noun agreement is an easy skill to learn after tuning your ear. Thankfully, many Spanish adjectives are also cognates, which will help you learn quickly.
There are different types of adjectives in Spanish. Today we are going to learn about descriptive adjectives and how they can help you to describe a person.
Before we jump into the adjectives let’s review how to use adjectives in Spanish. Adjectives in Spanish must agree in number and gender to the noun (person, place, thing or idea) they are modifying. Let’s see examples of how this works.
| English | Spanish |
| He is tall. | Él es alto. |
| She is tall. | Ella es alta. |
| The male basketball players are tall. | Los basquetboleros (ellos) son altos. |
| The female basketball players are tall. | Las basquetboleras (ellas) son altas. |
The adjective ‘tall’ in English never changes. In Spanish, the root adjective alto changes to alta for ella, a feminine noun. It changes to altos for ellos, the masculine plural noun. Finally, it changes to altas for ellas, the feminine plural noun. See how the endings go together?
Generally, adjectives that end in -o are used to describe masculine nouns. To describe a feminine noun, the ending changes to -a. Adjectives that end in -e are not masculine or feminine, they are neutral. These can be used for either without changing.
To make an adjective plural, add an -s to the end of the word. For adjectives that end in a consonant add -es.
Word order is also important when learning Spanish adjectives. In English the word order is subject + adjective + noun.
In Spanish, the work order is subject + noun + adjective.
Of course, there are always exceptions to the rules! By following the rules above, you will be correct most of the time.
When having conversations in Spanish, we sometimes need to physically describe a person. Don’t forget adjective-noun agreement. Adjectives in Spanish need to match in gender and number to the noun they are describing.
Let’s review some adjectives to describe a person in Spanish. The adjectives below are perceived as either positive or neutral description words in Spanish.
| Spanish | Pronunciation | English |
| alto | al-toh | tall |
| altura media | al-too-ra meh-dee-ah | medium height |
| bajo | ba-hoh | short |
| bonito | bo-nee-toh | pretty |
| calvo | kal-voh | bald |
| corto | kor-toh | short (for hair) |
| hermoso | her-moh-soh | beautiful |
| joven | hoh-veh-n | young |
| largo | lar-goh | long (for hair) |
| liso | lee-soh | straight (for hair) |
| mayor | ma-hee-ohr | old |
| moreno | moh-reh-noh | brunette |
| ondulado | on-doo-lah-doh | wavy (for hair) |
| pelirrojo | peh-lee-roh-hoh | redhead |
| rizado | ree-tsa-doh | curly (for hair) |
| rubio | roo-bee-oh | blonde |
Now let’s take a look at a few personality adjectives in Spanish that you can use to describe yourself (or others!) to friends and family. Are you looking for a job? Friends? A date? Describing yourself and others will help when meeting new people.
Remember, adjectives need to be modified to match gender and number.
| Spanish | Pronunciation | English |
| alegre | ah-leh-greh | cheerful |
| amable | ah-mah-bleh | kind |
| amigable | ah-mee-gah-bleh | friendly |
| antipático | an-tee-pah-tee-koh | unpleasant |
| cariñoso | kah-ree-nyoh-soh | affectionate |
| celoso | th-eh-loh-soh | jealous |
| deprimido | deh-pree-mee-doh | depressed |
| educado | eh-doo-kah-doh | polite |
| egoista | eh-goh-hee-stah | selfish |
| empático | em-pah-tee-koh | empathetic |
| exigente | eks-hee-heh-n-teh | demanding |
| extrovertido | eks-troh-vehr-tee-doh | extroverted |
| gracioso | gra-thee-o-soh | funny |
| generoso | gh-eh-neh-roh-soh | generous |
| grosero | gr-hoh-seh-roh | mean/rude |
| inmaduro | in-mah-doo-roh | immature |
| inteligente | in-teh-lee-heh-n-teh | intelligent |
| listo | lee-hs-toh | smart |
| mentiroso | mehn-tee-roh-soh | liar |
| optimista | opt-hee-mee-stah | optimistic |
| paciente | pah-thee-ehn-teh | patient |
| pesimista | peh-see-mee-hs-tah | pessimistic |
| punctual | poon-k-too-ahl | punctual |
| simpático | seem-pah-tee-koh | nice or pleasant |
| talentoso | tah-len-toh-soh | talented |
| tímido | tee-mee-doh | shy |
| torpe | toh-r-peh | clumsy |
| triste | tree-st-eh | sad |
Wondering whether to use ser vs. estar to describe yourself? Remember, when describing a permanent characteristic about yourself or others, ser is the right verb choice.
To take your Spanish skills to the next level, spend some time memorizing adjectives and learning how to use them correctly.
Learning adjectives that describe the physical and personality characteristics of a person will take you beyond the basics of bueno y malo (good and bad) into more natural daily conversations.
Spanish is a fun and descriptive language. Learning adjectives will help you to be inteligente y preparado o preparada (smart and prepared).
