To talk about a person’s appearance, one often chooses simple and neutral words. For example you say il est grand, elle est petite, il a les cheveux courts, elle a les yeux verts. When describing someone, we stay factual and respectful. The words help to give a clear image, without judging the person. The vocabulary here is also used in Personality and Emotions, because we often describe a person with their appearance and their character in the same sentence.

Size is described with grand and petit. For body build, one uses mince, rond, fort, musclé and corpulent. Élancé describes a tall and slim person, with a light bearing. One can say une femme mince, un homme musclé, un garçon corpulent. The word changes according to gender and number, as with the Adjectifs qualificatifs. Grand can refer to height, but also to the overall impression a person gives in a room.

grandmusclémincerondélancéfortcorpulentpetit

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Qui a une taille peu élevéeQui a peu de volume corporelQui a une silhouette fine et légèreQui a une carrure solideQui a des formes douces et généreusesQui a une grande corpulenceQui a une taille élevéeQui a des muscles bien visibles

Vocabulary of Height and Silhouette

Word	Definition
grand	Who has a tall stature.
petit	Who has a short stature.
élancé	Who has a slender and light silhouette.
mince	Who has little body volume.
rond	Who has soft and generous shapes.
fort	Who has a solid build.
musclé	Who has well-defined muscles.
corpulent	Who has a large corpulence.

Scramble

For hair, one first describes length with courts or longs. Then add the texture with bouclés or raides. One says des cheveux courts or des cheveux longs et bouclés. For the face, the most common shapes are rond and ovale. Un visage rond appears soft and wide, whereas un visage ovale is longer and more regular. These words often appear with more precise details, such as une frange, une barbe courte or un front large.

visage rondcheveux courtsvisage ovalecheveux longscheveux raidesmèchesfrangecheveux bouclés

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Des cheveux qui sont bien lissesDes petites sections de cheveux visibles ou mises en valeurUn visage qui a une forme allongée et douceUne mèche de cheveux qui couvre le frontUn visage qui a des contours arrondisDes cheveux qui ont une longueur brèveDes cheveux qui ont des boucles naturellesDes cheveux qui ont beaucoup de longueur

Vocabulary of Hair and Face

Word	Definition
cheveux courts	Hair that has a short length.
cheveux longs	Hair that has a lot of length.
cheveux bouclés	Hair that has natural curls.
cheveux raides	Hair that is very straight.
visage rond	A face that has rounded features.
visage ovale	A face that has an elongated and soft shape.
frange	A strand of hair that covers the forehead.
mèches	Small sections of hair visible or highlighted.

Scramble

The eyes are described mainly by color. One says les yeux bleus, les yeux verts or les yeux marron. For the skin, one uses claire, mate, foncée and bronzée. Claire indicates a light skin, mate a warmer and slightly darker skin, foncée a clearly dark skin, and bronzée a sun-tanned skin. One can say une peau claire or un teint bronzé. The word teint denotes the overall appearance of the skin on the face.

peau foncéeyeux vertspeau matepeau claireteintyeux bleusyeux marronpeau bronzée

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Des yeux dont l iris est vertUne peau qui a une teinte sombreUne peau qui a pris une couleur dorée au soleilDes yeux dont l iris est brunLa couleur générale du visageUne peau qui a une couleur intermédiaireDes yeux dont l iris est bleuUne peau qui a peu de pigment visible

Vocabulary of Eyes and Complexion

Word	Definition
yeux bleus	Eyes whose iris is blue.
yeux verts	Eyes whose iris is green.
yeux marron	Eyes whose iris is brown.
peau claire	A skin that has little visible pigment.
peau mate	A skin that has an intermediate color.
peau foncée	A skin that has a dark tone.
peau bronzée	A skin that has taken on a golden color in the sun.
teint	The overall color of the face.

Scramble

Some details help to recognize a person more easily. One often mentions une barbe, une moustache, des lunettes, un tatouage or des taches de rousseur. One says il porte des lunettes and elle a une barbe courte when describing what is visible. Des taches de rousseur are small light or brown spots on the skin, often on the face. These features are useful in a precise description, in a notice or in a narrative where someone needs to be identified quickly.

lunettescicatricebarbetaches de rousseurmoustachetatouagegrain de beautéfossette

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La pilosité du menton et des joues chez certaines personnesUne marque laissée par une blessureLa pilosité au dessus de la lèvre supérieureDe petits points bruns sur la peauDes verres montés sur une monture pour mieux voir ou pour le styleUn dessin permanent sur la peauUn petit point naturel sur la peauUn petit creux dans la joue ou au menton

Vocabulary of Distinctive Features

Word	Definition
barbe	The hair on the chin and cheeks of some people.
moustache	The hair above the upper lip.
lunettes	Lenses mounted on a frame to see better or for style.
tatouage	A permanent design on the skin.
taches de rousseur	Small brown spots on the skin.
grain de beauté	A small natural dot on the skin.
cicatrice	A mark left by an injury.
fossette	A small hollow in the cheek or chin.

Scramble

The overall look is described with words like élégant, négligé, soigné and décontracté. Élégant suits a person well-dressed, with harmonious presentation. Soigné describes someone orderly, neat and attentive to their appearance. Négligé is used when the presentation seems not well worked. Décontracté describes a simple, relaxed, informal style. One can talk about the outfit, the hairstyle and the overall image the person conveys.

décontractéclassiquemodernechicoriginalnégligésoignéélégant

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Qui a une allure très éléganteQui a un style personnel et surprenantQui correspond à un style actuelQui a un aspect peu soignéQui a une apparence raffinée et soignéeQui suit un style intemporelQui est propre et bien présentéQui est simple et détendu

Vocabulary of Appearance and Presentation

Word	Definition
élégant	Who has a refined and well-groomed appearance.
négligé	Who has an uncareful appearance.
soigné	Who is clean and well-presented.
décontracté	Who is simple and relaxed.
chic	Who has a very elegant look.
moderne	Who corresponds to an up-to-date style.
classique	Who follows a timeless style.
original	Who has a personal and surprising style.

Scramble

To compare two people, one uses plus + adjective + que, moins + adjective + que and aussi + adjective + que. One says Paul est plus grand que Marc, Lina est moins mince que Sara, Nora est aussi belle que Chloé. To identify a person, one uses Il ressemble à… and Elle a l’air de…. Il ressemble à son frère indicates a physical resemblance. Elle a l’air fatiguée describes the momentary appearance. These constructions are useful when comparing silhouettes, faces or styles, and they complement the Adjectifs démonstratifs, the Adjectifs possessifs and the Adjectifs relatifs in longer descriptions.

Ways to Compare and Identify

Usage	Explanation
Size superiority	We use plus grand que to say someone is taller than another.
Corpulence inferiority	We use moins mince que to show someone is more corpulent than another.
Beauty equality	We use aussi beau que to say two people have the same level of beauty.
Physical resemblance	We use ressemble à to indicate someone looks like another.
General impression	We use a l air de to describe the impression someone gives.
Comparison for identification	We compare two people to help identify someone in a description.
Visual cue	We use a simple comparison when looking for a person in a group.
Quick portrait	We choose a construction like looks like to give a quick, natural impression.

When describing a person, the adjective agrees with the noun. One says un homme grand and une femme grande, des garçons sportifs and des filles sportives. In French, the adjective often follows the noun in physical description, like un visage rond or des cheveux noirs. The masculine singular is the base form, then one often adds e for the feminine and s for the plural, depending on the word. Some adjectives change more in the feminine, like blanc and blanche. The sentences then follow the pattern noun + adjective or subject + verb + adjective.

Rules of Agreement of Descriptive Adjectives

Idea
We often place the adjective after the noun to describe appearance in French.
An adjective in masculine often takes a different form in feminine to agree with the noun.
In the plural, we often add an s to the adjective.
Some adjectives change form in feminine to harmonize with the noun.
Adjectives of color and shape also follow the agreement rule.
When the noun is feminine, the adjective must carry the feminine ending.
When the noun is masculine plural, the adjective takes the plural ending.
Agreement is checked even in a very short description to keep the sentence correct.