Lesson 119 · German A1-2

Describing Physical Appearance

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Describing what someone looks like - useful for recognizing people at a meetup, describing a missing item, or just general conversation. Reuses haben (Lesson 7) and predicate adjectives (Lesson 22).

Today's win: describe someone's height, hair, and general appearance.

Height and build (with sein, no ending)

Er ist groß. / Sie ist klein. (He is tall. / She is short. - reusing groß/klein, Lesson 35)
Er ist schlank. (He is slim.)

Quick check: does "groß" need an ending after "ist" (predicate position)?

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no

Hair: with haben + accusative

Sie hat lange, braune Haare. (She has long, brown hair. - haben + accusative, Lesson 7; adjective endings, Lesson 22)
Er hat kurze Haare. (He has short hair.)

Quick check: which verb do you use to describe hair - sein or haben?

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haben

Core descriptive words

lang / kurzlong / shortblond / brünettblond / brunette
lockig / glattcurly / straighteine Brille tragento wear glasses

Quick check: what does "lockig" mean?

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curly

Putting it together

Sie ist mittelgroß und hat kurze, lockige Haare. Sie trägt eine Brille. (She's medium height and has short, curly hair. She wears glasses.)
Try it out loud: describe your own appearance in 2-3 sentences, combining sein for build and haben for hair.

Recap

1. "She has long, brown hair." - Sie ______ lange, braune Haare.

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hat

2. "He is tall." (predicate, no ending) - Er ist ______.

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groß

3. What does "eine Brille tragen" mean?

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to wear glasses

Primary source

Vocabulary cross-checked against the official Goethe-Zertifikat A1 Wortliste.

Want to describe a specific person? Ask your teaching agent for the exact vocabulary.