How to Describe People in German: Physical Descriptions and Personality

Conversations, no matter the language, are often peppered with descriptions of people we see and know. Whether it’s about physical traits that can be easily seen or the deeper aspects of a person’s character and personality, descriptions are an important part of conversations.

So here in this article, let’s learn how to describe people’s looks and personalities in German!

I. German Words to Describe Personality

A person could be smart, organized, and helpful. He could also be aggressive, angry, and lazy. How do you say these in German? Here are some words that would help!

Let’s try some examples using very simple sentence constructions.

Pop Quiz 1: German Personality Words

Let’s try a few exercises to cement your knowledge of the words you just learned!

1. Spontan means _____.

2. Someone who is ehrgeizig is _____.

3. Extroverted and introverted in German are:

4. Er ist fleißig means:

Thanks for taking the short quiz! Now let’s proceed to describing physical traits.

II. German Words for Physical Appearance

Looks matter a lot! Your appearance is a reflection of the impression you want to make to the world. If you wish to describe a person’s looks in German, the following words will come in handy.

Now let’s take some simple sentence constructions as example.

Want more examples? Let’s take a look at longer ones that describe physical appearances.

Example #1:

Der Mann ist groß und hat kurze, blonde Haare. Er hat eine runde Brille. Der Mann trägt einen blauen Anzug mit weißem Hemd und roter Krawatte. Dazu trägt er braune Schuhe. In seiner rechten Hand hält er einen alten Aktenkoffer. Er sieht jung aus.

The man is tall and has short, blond hair. He is wearing round glasses. He wears a blue suit with a white shirt and a red tie. With that he is wearing brown shoes. He looks young.

Example #2:

Das Mädchen hat lange, dunkle Haare, welche zu einem Zopf geflochten sind. Sie hat kleine, runde Ohrringe. Ihre Augen sind blau. Sie trägt ein blau-grün gestreiften Pullover und einen weißen Rock. Dieser geht bis zu den Knien. Sie trägt keine Schuhe, sie ist barfuß.

The girl has long, dark hair which is braided. She has small, round earrings. Her eyes are blue. She is wearing a blue and green striped sweater and a white skirt. This goes down to the knees. She doesn’t wear shoes, she is barefoot.

Example #3:

Der Mann sieht sehr alt aus. In einer Hand hält er einen Gehstock. Er hat nur noch wenige, graue Haare. Trotz seiner vielen Falten sieht er sehr sympatisch aus. Er trägt ein kariertes Hemd mit rotem Muster und dazu eine braune Hose.

The man looks very old. In one hand he is holding a cane. He only has a few, grey hairs left. Despite his many wrinkles he looks pleasant. He wears a checkered shirt with a red pattern and brown trousers.

Pop Quiz #2!

Try your hand at this second short quiz about physical appearance!

1. Lockige Haare means:

2. When a person has braune Haare, he or she is ____.

3. Er ist dünn means:

4. When a lady is described as schön, it means she is ____.

Conclusion

We hope you learned something from this simple article on how to describe a person’s personality and looks. How about you? How would you describe yourself using the vocabulary shared above? Do share it with us in the comments!

To learn more German words through context, get your copy of German Short Stories for Beginners. It comes with a built-in dictionary for a hassle-free learning! You can listen to the stories, too, with the free audio. Check it out below!