Describing someone in Italian (adjectives, body)

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In this lesson you will learn how to describe somebody in Italian.

Lesson outline

1.Introducing someone in Italian
2.Physical description (features)
3.General description (pretty, strong, handsome)
4.Personality description
5.Adjectives declension rules
5.1.Regular declension
5.2.Irregular declension
6.Short stories
6.1.Story 1
6.2.Story 2
6.3.Story 3
7.Exercises
7.1.Exercise on describing someone in Italian (body) - Drag text
7.2.Exercise on describing someone in Italian (body) - Flashcards
7.3.Exercise on describing someone in Italian (body) - Fill in the blanks
7.4.Exercise on describing someone in Italian (aspect) - Drag text
7.5.Exercise on describing someone in Italian (aspect) - Single choice set
7.6.Exercise on describing someone in Italian (aspect) - Fill in the blanks
7.7.Exercise on describing someone in Italian (personality) - Drag text
7.8.Exercise on describing someone in Italian (personality) - Fill in the blanks.
7.9.Exercise on the short stories of the lesson - Fill in the blanks

Introducing someone in Italian

The following expressions can be useful to introduce somebody.

Italian	English
Lui/Lei è (nome/cognome)	He/she is (name/surname)
Questo/Questa è (nome/cognome)	This is (name/surname)
Nella foto vediamo (nome/cognome)	In the picture we see (name/surname)

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Luca M.

Alessia S.

Kiki G.

Silvia G.

Elena P.

Irina B.

Alessia T.

Flavia F.

Chiara Z.

Giacomo B.

Luca M.

Alessia S.

Kiki G.

Silvia G.

Elena P.

Irina B.

Alessia T.

Flavia F.

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Physical description (features)

In the following table you can find body parts matched with some possible features.

Body part	Feature	English
Gli occhi (The eyes)	Azzurri Marroni Verdi Neri Grandi Piccoli A mandorla Tondi Portare gli occhiali	Blue eyes Brown eyes Green eyes Black eyes Big eyes Small eyes Almond-shaped eyes Round eyes To wear glasses
I capelli (The hair)	Biondi Castani Neri Rossi Grigi/Bianchi Lisci Ricci Mossi Corti Lunghi La coda La frangetta	Blonde hair Brown hair Black hair Red hair Grey/White hair Straight hair Curly hair Wavy hair Short hair Long hair Ponytail Bangs
Il naso (The nose)	Piccolo Grande Storto	Little nose Big nose Crooked nose
La bocca (The mouth)	Piccola Grande	Small mouth Big mouth

To know more about the body parts, click here: Body parts in Italian.

Take a look at the following examples.

Italian	English
Maria ha i capelli lunghi e lisci e gli occhi azzurri.	Maria has straight long hair and blue eyes.
Marco gli occhi marroni e i capelli biondi.	Marco has bown eyes and blond hair.

General description (pretty, strong, handsome)

In the following table you can find an useful list of adjectives to describe the general aspect and features of someone.

positive	English	negative	English
abbronzato	suntanned	pallido	pale
affascinante	charming	ripugnante	repulsive
alto	tall	basso	short
atletico	athletic	gracile esile	slender
barbuto	bearded	sbarbato	shaved
bello	handsome	brutto	ugly
capellone	long-haired	calvo / pelato	bald
elegante	elegant	trasandato	shabby
energico	dynamic	fiacco	slack
forte	strong	debole / fragile	weak
giovane	young	vecchio	old
grazioso	pretty	sgraziato	ungraceful
incantevole	fascinating	orribile	horrible
magro	thin	grasso	fat
robusto	robust	muscoloso	muscular

Let's see some examples.

Italian	English
Mio fratello è molto alto, e invece mia sorella è bassa.	My brother is very tall, whereas my sister is short.
La zia di Marco è elegante mentre lo zio è sempre trasandato.	Marco's aunt is elegant, whereas the uncle is always shabby.

Personality description

In the following table you can find an useful list of adjectives to describe the personality of someone.

Positive	English	Negative	English
abile capace	capable	incapace maldestro	clumsy
accogliente	welcoming	inospitale	unwelcoming
affidabile	reliable	inaffidabile	unreliable
allegro	cheerful	malinconico	melancholy
altruista	selfless	egoista	selfish
ambizioso	ambitious	rinunciatario	defeatist
amichevole	friendly	ostile	hostile
appassionato	enthusiastic	indifferente	indifferent
astuto	wily	ingenuo	naive
attento	attentive/careful	distratto	distracted
bravo	good	cattivo	bad
calmo	quiet	agitato	shaken
chiacchierone	talkative	taciturno	silent
coerente	coherent	incoerente	incoherent
colto	educated	rozzo	boorish
comprensivo	understanding	intransigente	intransigent
conosciuto	famous	sconosciuto	unknown
coraggioso	brave	pauroso / vigliacco	fearful / coward
cortese / gentile	kind	scortese	rude
deciso	determined	indeciso	undecided
diplomatico	diplomatic	sfacciato	cheeky
discreto	discreet	invadente	intrusive
divertente	fun	noioso	boring
educato	polite	maleducato	unpolite
estroverso	extroverted	introverso / timido	shy
fedele	faithful	infedele	unfaithful
felice	happy	infelice	unhappy
sicuro di sè	confident	diffidente	reluctant
gradevole / piacevole	pleasant	sgradevole / fastidioso	unpleasant / annoying
intelligente	clever	stupido	stupid
istruito	educated	ignorante	uneducated
laborioso	hard−working	pigro	lazy
leale	loyal	sleale	disloyal
libero	free	occupato / impegnato	busy
maturo	mature	immaturo	immature
modesto	modest	vanitoso	conceited
obbediente	obedient	disobbediente	disobedient
onesto	honest	disonesto	dishonest
ordinato	tidy	disordinato	untidy
organizzato	organised	disorganizzato	disorganised
ottimista	optimistic	pessimista	pessimistic
pacifico	peaceful	litigioso	litigious
paziente	patient	impaziente	impatient
perfetto	perfect	imperfetto	imperfect
pratico	pragmatic	inesperto	inexpert
premuroso	attentive	noncurante	careless
pulito	clean	sporco	dirty
puntuale	punctual	ritardatario	latecomer
responsabile	responsible	irresponsabile	irresponsable
ricco	rich	povero	poor
riconoscente	grateful	ingrato	ungrateful
rilassato	relaxed	stressato	stressed
saggio	wise	pazzo	crazy
sensibile	sensitive	insensibile	insensitive
sicuro	confident	insicuro	insecure
simpatico	nice	antipatico	unpleasant
sincero	sincere	bugiardo	liar
socievole	outgoing	solitario	loner
soddisfatto	satisfied	insoddisfatto	unsatisfied
spigliato	at ease	imbarazzato	awkward
umile	humble	presuntuoso	pretentious
veloce	fast	lento	slow

Check out the following examples.

Italian	English
Invece di essere sempre così egoista, prova ad essere più altruista.	Instead of always being so selfish, try to be more altruistic.
Qualche anno fa era ancora molto immaturo, mentre ora è più maturo.	Some years ago he was still very immature, whereas now he is more mature.

Adjectives declension rules

When describing someone, the adjectives we saw in the tables must be declined according to gender and number.
Here's a short recap.

Regular declension

Most adjectives follow this pattern of declension.

Masculine singular: -o;
Feminine singular: -a;
Masculine plural: -i;
Feminine plural: -e.

Take a look at the following examples.

Italian	English
Sara è una persona onesta.	Sara is a honest person.
Gli amici di Paolo sono molto simpatici.	Paolo's friends are very nice.

Irregular declension

The following adjectives are irregular and must be learned by heart.

endings in -e;
endings in -a;
endings in -tore;
roots ending in -c or -g;
invariable adjectives.

Take a look at the following examples.

Italian	English
Mario è sensibile e anche la sua ragazza è sensibile.	Mario is sensitive and also his girlfriend is sensitive.
Le tue amiche sono molto socievoli.	Your girl friends are very outgoing.

Short stories

Story 1

Marco ha i capelli castani e gli occhi azzurri. Ha il naso piccolo e un po' di barba.
(Marco has brown hair and blue eyes. He has a small nose and a bit of beard.)
Marco è alto e magro. E' un ragazzo altruista, positivo, sicuro di sè e paziente.
(Marco is tall and thin. He's a selfless, positive, confident and a patient guy.)
Ha un unico difetto: è un po' ritardatario.
(He has only one flaw: he's a bit of a latecomer.)

Story 2

Chiara è una chiacchierona, è estroversa e adora conoscere nuove persone.
(Chiara is very talkative, she is outgoing and loves to meet new people.)
Ha i capelli rossi e ricci, e gli occhi verdi.
(She has red curly hair, and green eyes.)
E' robusta e alta.
(She is robust and tall.)
A volte è una persona un po' pigra.
(Sometimes she is a bit of a lazy person.)

Story 3

Luca ha i capelli neri e gli occhi neri. E' basso, e questo lo rende insicuro.
(Luca has black hair and black eyes. He is short and this makes him insecure.)
Lui è molto curioso ed intelligente, molto laborioso.
(He is very curious and smart, very hard-working.)
Spesso è taciturno e non si capisce cosa pensa.
(Sometimes he is silent, you can't understand what he is thinking about.)
In generale, è un ragazzo molto affidabile.
(Generally, he is a very reliable guy.)

Exercises

Exercise on describing someone in Italian (body) - Drag text
Exercise on describing someone in Italian (body) - Flashcards
Exercise on describing someone in Italian (body) - Fill in the blanks
Exercise on describing someone in Italian (aspect) - Drag text
Exercise on describing someone in Italian (aspect) - Single choice set
Exercise on describing someone in Italian (aspect) - Fill in the blanks
Exercise on describing someone in Italian (personality) - Drag text
Exercise on describing someone in Italian (personality) - Fill in the blanks.
Exercise on the short stories of the lesson - Fill in the blanks

Exercise on describing someone in Italian (body) - Drag text

Exercise on describing someone in Italian (body) - Flashcards

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Exercise on describing someone in Italian (body) - Fill in the blanks

Fill in the missing words.

1. Sara porta

.
Sara wears bangs.

2. Il fidanzato di mia sorella ha

e

.
My sister's boyfriend has blond hair and blue eyes.

3. Non ha i capelli nè

nè

: li ha

.
He doesn't have neither straight nor curly hair: he has wavy hair.

4. Chiara ha una e delicata.
Chiara has a small and delicate mounth.

5. Durante le Giornate dei Capelli Rossi nei Paesi Bassi molte persone con

si riuniscono.
During the Redhead Days in the Netherlands,many people with red hair come together.

6. Si dice che i cinesi abbiano

.
They say Chinese people have almond-shaped eyes.

7. Martina ha

, le arrivano quasi ai fianchi!
Martina has long hair, it almost reaches her hips!

8. Hai

o

? Non capisco!
Do you have green eyes or blue eyes? I don't understand!

9. Vorrei una bambina con

e

.
I would like to have a daughter with black hair and green eyes.

10. La ragazza nella foto aveva

e

.
The girl in the picture had red hair and a small nose.

Exercise on describing someone in Italian (aspect) - Drag text

Exercise on describing someone in Italian (aspect) - Single choice set

Slide 1 of 11

1. Mario si allena ogni giorno, è molto ________.
Mario trains everyday, he is very muscular.

Debole
Muscoloso

2. Elisa è la più _______ della classe: è 1,90m!
Elisa is the tallest (tall) in the class, she is 1,90m!

Alta
Bassa

3. Marco non è mai andato al mare questa estate e quindi è _______.
Marco has never been to the sea this summer, so he is pale.

Abbronzato
Pallido

4. Il ragazzo che mi ha chiesto informazioni era molto ________:
The guy who asked me some information was very young.

Giovane
Vecchio

5. Giorgio con lo smoking ha un aspetto molto ________.
Giorgio is very elegant when wearing a suit.

Trasandato
Elegante

6. Il giudice era un signore _______.
The judge was a shaved man.

Sbarbato
Barbuto

7. Il figlio di Aurora è molto ________.
Aurora's son is very pretty.

Grazioso
Brutto

8. Tommaso è molto ________ la mattina.
Tommaso is very dynamic in the morning.

Fiacco
Energetico

9. Non è educato chiamare qualcuno _______.
It's not polite to call someone fat.

Grasso
Magro

10. E all'improvviso arrivò un _______ principe.
And all of a sudden arrived a charming prince.

Orrendo
Affascinante

Exercise on describing someone in Italian (aspect) - Fill in the blanks

Fill in the missing words

1. Andrea è molto , riesce a sollevare il doppio del suo peso.
Andrea is very strong, he can lift twice his weight.

2. Babbo Natale è un signore .
Santa Claus is a bearded man.

3. Il mio gatto è abbastanza .
My cat is kind of fat.

4. Sei troppo per uscire fino a tardi!
You are too young to stay out late!

6, Il modello è e alto.
The model is thin and tall.

7. Ti senti bene? Sei molto !
Are you okay? You are very pale!

8. Il candidato non deve avere un aspetto .
The candidate shouldn't look shabby.

9. Il bambino è troppo per raggiungere la mensola.
The kid is too short to reach the shelf.

10. Lei è una professoressa molto .
She is a very elegant professor.

Exercise on describing someone in Italian (personality) - Drag text

Exercise on describing someone in Italian (personality) - Fill in the blanks.

Fill in the missing words in the text

1) Paolo è un ragazzo italiano di 23 anni. E' una persona molto

e

.
Cerca di essere sempre

e

.
Ha un grande difetto: spesso è

.
Il suo migliore amico Lorenzo è

e

. Non sopporta chi è

.
(Paolo is a 23-year-old man. He's a very friendly and kind person. He always tries to be positive and responsible. He has one big flaw: often he is lazy. His best friend Lorenzo is smart and patient. He can't stand intrusive people.)

2) Il Signor Rossi è molto

.
E' anche

e

.
E' spesso un

,

della vita e

.
(Mr. Rossi is very rich. He is also insensitive and stressed out. He is often a liar, unsatisfied of life and disloyal.)

3) Luca è . Sa sempre come manipolare le persone.
A volte è troppo

e

.
La sua fidanzata però dice che lui è

.
(Luca is sly. He always know the way to manipulate people. Sometimes he is too pretentious and careless. His girlfriend however says he is perfect.)

Exercise on the short stories of the lesson - Fill in the blanks

Fill in the missing words

1.

Marco ha e . Ha il piccolo e un po' di barba.
(Marco has brown hair and blue eyes. He has a small nose and a bit of beard.)
Marco è e . E' un ragazzo altruista, , sicuro di sè e .
(Marco is tall and thin. He's a selfless, positive, confidente and patient guy.)
Ha un unico difetto: è un po' .
(He has only one flaw: he's a bit of a latecomer.)

2.

Chiara è una , è e adora conoscere nuove persone.
(Chiara is very talkative, she is outgoing and loves to meet new people.)
Ha e ricci, e .
(She has red curly hair, and green eyes.)
E' robusta e .
(She is robust and tall.)
A volte è una persona un po' .
(Sometimes she is a bit of a lazy person.)

3.

Luca ha i capelli e . E' basso, e questo lo rende .
(Luca has black hair and black eyes. He is short and this makes him insecure.)
Lui è molto ed intelligente, molto .
(He is very curious and smart, very hard-working.)
Spesso è taciturno e non si capisce cosa pensa.
(Sometimes he is silent, you can't understand what he is thinking about.)
In generale, è un ragazzo molto .
(Generally, he is a very reliable guy.)