Are you looking for how to describe a person in Chinese? Lucky for you because you are at the right article! Here, you will learn how to describe a person in Chinese. You will learn how to describe someone’s physical characters and personality.
Chinese Descriptions Vocabulary
Before learning how to describe someone’s physical characteristics and personality, you first need to learn some of the body parts.
Body Parts in Chinese
Here is a list of body parts with its definition in alphabet order.
| Hanzi | Pinyin | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 腹肌 | fùjī | abs |
| 胳膊 | gēbo | arm |
| 肚子 | dùzi | belly/stomach |
| 身体 | shēntǐ | body |
| 屁股 | pìgu | butt |
| 脸颊 | liǎnjiá | cheek |
| 下巴 | xiàba | chin |
| 耳朵 | ěrduo | ear |
| 眉毛 | méimao | eyebrows |
| 睫毛 | jiémáo | eyelashes |
| 眼睛 | yǎnjing | eyes |
| 脸 | liǎn | face |
| 手指 | shǒuzhǐ | finger |
| 脚 | jiǎo | foot (spoken) |
| 足 | zú | foot (written) |
| 头发 | tóufa | hair |
| 手 | shǒu | hand |
| 头 | tóu | head |
| 膝盖 | xīgài | knee |
| 腿 | tuǐ | legs |
| 唇 | chún | lips |
| 嘴巴 | zuǐba | mouth |
| 鼻子 | bízi | nose |
| 皮肤 | pífū | skin |
| 大腿 | dàtuǐ | thighs |
Now that you know few body parts, let’s learn words to describe a person’s physical characteristics and personality.
Descriptive Words
Here is a list of Chinese descriptive words with its definition in alphabetical order.
| Hanzi | Pinyin | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 还 可以 | hái kěyǐ | alright |
| 漂亮 | piàoliang | beautiful |
| 大 | dà | big |
| 黑色 | hēisè | black |
| 蓝色 | lán sè | blue |
| 身材 | shēncái | body shape/figure |
| 棕色 | zōng sè | brown |
| 酷 | kù | cool/awesome |
| 卷 | juǎn | curly |
| 可爱 | kě ài | cute |
| 胖 | pàng | fat |
| 风趣 | fēng qù | funny |
| 好看 | hǎo kàn | good-looking |
| 灰色 | huīsè | gray |
| 绿色 | lǜsè | green |
| 帅 | shuài | handsome |
| 个子 | gèzi | height |
| 身高 | shēngāo | height (when asking) |
| 长 | cháng | long |
| 橙子 | chéngzi | orange |
| 粉色 | fěnsè | pink |
| 美丽 | měilì | pretty |
| 紫色 | zǐsè | purple |
| 红色 | hóngsè | red |
| 性感 | xìnggǎn | sexy |
| 短 | duǎn | short |
| 矮 | ǎi | short (in height) |
| 害羞 | hài xiū | shy |
| 瘦 | shòu | skinny |
| 小 | xiǎo | small |
| 臭 | chòu | smelly |
| 软 | ruǎn | soft |
| 直 | zhí | straight |
| 高 | gāo | tall |
| 浓 | nóng | thick and dark |
| 淡 | dàn | thin and light |
| 难看 | nán kàn | ugly |
| 白色 | báisè | white |
| 黄色 | huángsè | yellow |
To know more descriptive words or adjectives, you can check out our article about the The 100 Most Useful Chinese Adjectives.
Grammar
Physical Characteristics
One of the most common sentence construction for describing a person’s physical characteristics is by using “的 (de)…很 (hěn)”.
SBJ +
de
的
+ (body part) +
hěn/ bù
很/不
+ (description)
Literal translation for this is “(someone’s) (body part) is (description)”
很 (hěn) here functions as a positive connecting word between a noun and an adjective or descriptive word while 不 (bù) is the negative connecting word.
Since 的 (de) in this sentence construction is placed before a noun, its function here is to mark possession of something or someone. It is important to know that in a sentence, there cannot be two or more 的 (de).
wǒ
我
de
的
jiějie
姐姐
de
的
érzi
儿子
My older sister's son.
wǒ
我
jiějie
姐姐
de
的
érzi
儿子
My older sister's son.
Examples
bǎobèi
宝贝
de
的
bízi
鼻子
hěn/ bù
很/不
kě'ài
可爱
The baby's nose is/is not cute.
tā
她
de
的
shēntǐ
身体
hěn/ bù
很/不
xiǎo
小
Her body is/is not small.
tā
他
de
的
tóufa
头发
hěn/ bù
很/不
juǎn
卷
His not hair is/is not curly.
nǐ
你
de
的
liǎn
脸
hěn/ bù
很/不
piàoliang
漂亮
Your face is/is not beautiful
To give emphasis on the descriptive word, 的 (de) is placed at the end of the sentence and 很 (hěn) will not be used in the sentence.
When using this sentence construction, single syllabled words or single character words are repeated once before 的 (de).
SBJ + (body part) + (descriptive word) +
de
的
OR
SBJ + (body part) + (descriptive word)x2 +
de
的
Examples
tā
他
shǒuzhǐ
手指
xiǎoxiǎo
小小
de
的
He has small fingers.
Ālǐ
阿里
tuǐ
腿
shòu
瘦
shòu
瘦
de
瘦
Ali has skinny legs.
wáng
王
lǎoshī
老师
méimao
眉毛
dàndàn
淡淡
de
的
Teacher Wang has thin and light eyebrows.
tā
她
shēncái
身材
xìnggǎn
性感
de
的
She has a sexy body figure.
tā
他
liǎn
脸
liǎn
好看
de
的
He has a good-looking face.
Personalities
Describing someone’s personality has the same sentence construction as of forming a sentence with adjectives.
SBJ +
hěn
很
+ ADJ
To know more about forming sentences with adjectives, you can check out our article about the The 100 Most Useful Chinese Adjectives.
Examples
tā
她
hěn
很
hàixiū
害羞
She is shy.
mèimei
妹妹
hěn
很
cōngming
妹妹
Younger sister is clever.
tā
他
hěn
很
yǒuqù
有趣
He is interesting.
bàba
爸爸
hěn
很
nǔlì
努力
Dad is hardworking.
Luis
hěn
很
kù
很
Luis is cool.
Now YOU try!
Describe the physical characteristics and personalities of your family members using the words and sentence constructions we just learned.
Examples
māma
妈妈
hěn
很
piàoliang
漂亮
Mom is beautiful.
bàba
爸爸
liǎn
脸
shuài
帅
shuài
帅
de
的
Dad has a handsome face.
jiějie
姐姐
shēncái
身材
shēncái
很
pàng
胖
Older sister is fat.
dìdi
弟弟
shēncái
头发
hēisè
黑色
de
的
Younger brother has black hair.
Learning Tip
One of the best ways to learn and retain what you learned is by repetition. When you learn a new word, it is best to construct a lot of sentences using that word so that repeating the word will help you remember it.
Ideally, repeating the word and the definition 5 or more times is the key. You can write your sentence (which will also help you remember Chinese characters) or you can speak it out to practice your pronunciation.
Keep learning Chinese and enjoy!
