🧍 Appearance - Apariencia
Beginner Spanish · Physical appearance
Describing Physical Appearance in Spanish
Describing someone becomes much easier when you know which pattern to use. Learn a few common appearance words, then use ser, tener, and llevar to build clear descriptions.
Your next small win: describe someone's height, hair, eyes, and glasses, then combine several details into one short description.
Start with useful features
Basic Appearance Vocabulary
These words are enough to begin describing someone before adding more detailed hair and facial features.
Tall
Short
Thin / slim
Strong
Athletic
Attractive
Describe height
Your male friend is tall. Complete Mi amigo es...
Mi amigo es alto.
More general appearance words
Muscular
Beautiful
Choose the right description pattern
Ser, Tener, and Llevar
These three verbs do different jobs when describing appearance.
1. Ser for general characteristics
He is tall.
My female cousin is tall and athletic.
General traits: this lesson uses ser for characteristics such as height and build.
2. Tener for features someone has
She has green eyes.
Lucía has long, curly hair.
Features: use tener for hair, eyes, and other physical features someone has.
3. Llevar for glasses and similar details
He has / wears a beard.
My teacher wears glasses.
Build a full description
Your friend is tall, has short hair, and wears glasses.
Es alto, tiene el cabello corto y lleva gafas.
Add hair and eye details
Hair, Eyes, and Features
Use these details with tener when you need a more specific description.
Hair
Brown hair
Black hair
Blonde hair
Curly hair
Straight hair
Long / short hair
More hair and facial features
Red hair
Beard
Mustache
Smile
Glasses
Eyes
Blue eyes
Brown eyes
Green eyes
Dark eyes
Make the adjective fit
Appearance and Agreement
Some appearance adjectives change with the person being described. Hair and eye adjectives agree with the noun they describe.
Describing a person
Tall
Thin / slim
Athletic
Strong, same form here for masculine and feminine
Describing hair and eyes
Black hair
Green eyes
What agrees with what: negro matches the singular masculine noun cabello. verdes matches the plural noun ojos.
Describe your female cousin
She is tall and athletic.
Mi prima es alta y atlética.
Describe someone clearly
Everyday Conversations
Appearance descriptions are especially useful when identifying someone or comparing family features.
Looking for someone
What does your friend look like?
He's tall, has short hair, and wears glasses.
Describing a family member
Do you look like your sister?
A little. We both have brown eyes, but she has curly hair.
Describe someone you know
Use one general trait, one hair or eye detail, and one additional feature.
Es alta, tiene los ojos verdes y lleva gafas.
More descriptions in context
My brother is tall and quite athletic.
He or she has green eyes and dark hair.
The new neighbor has red hair and a short beard.
The woman by the door has a very pretty smile.
Your turn · 8 quick questions
Practice: Physical Appearance
Choose the phrase that fits each description. Focus on ser, tener, llevar, and adjective agreement.
Practice complete
You can describe someone's appearance.
A few appearance phrases to revisit
One last step: describe someone without choices.
Describe a friend, relative, or imaginary person. Include one general trait, hair or eyes, and one more visible feature.
Es alto.
Tiene el cabello corto y los ojos verdes.
Lleva gafas.
You are looking for someone and want to ask what your friend looks like. Which question fits?
- ¿Cómo es tu amigo?
- ¿Te pareces a tu hermana?
- ¿Dónde vive tu amigo?
- ¿Cuántos años tiene tu amigo?
¿Cómo es tu amigo? can ask what your friend is like, including general appearance.
¿Cómo es tu amigo? = What does your friend look like?
Your friend is tall, has short hair, and wears glasses. Which sentence matches?
- Es alto, tiene el cabello corto y lleva gafas.
- Es alto, es el cabello corto y tiene gafas.
- Tiene alto, lleva el cabello corto y es gafas.
- Lleva alto, es cabello corto y tiene gafas.
Use ser for height, tener for hair, and llevar for glasses.
Es alto, tiene el cabello corto y lleva gafas.
She has green eyes. Which sentence is correct?
- Ella tiene ojos verdes.
- Ella es ojos verdes.
- Ella lleva ojos verdes.
- Ella está ojos verdes.
Use tener for physical features such as eyes.
Ella tiene ojos verdes.
Lucía has long, curly hair. Which sentence fits?
- Lucía tiene el cabello largo y rizado.
- Lucía tiene el cabello largo y liso.
- Lucía es el cabello largo y rizado.
- Lucía lleva ojos verdes.
Cabello largo means long hair and cabello rizado means curly hair.
Lucía tiene el cabello largo y rizado.
Your female cousin is tall and athletic. Which sentence agrees correctly?
- Mi prima es alta y atlética.
- Mi prima es alto y atlético.
- Mi primo es alta y atlética.
- Mi prima es alta y atlético.
Alta and atlética are the feminine forms used with prima.
Mi prima es alta y atlética.
He wears glasses. Which verb from the lesson fits?
- llevar
- ser
- estar
- vivir
The lesson uses llevar in expressions such as lleva gafas.
llevar gafas = to wear glasses
Why does Él es alto use ser?
- Ser is used here for a general physical characteristic.
- Tener is required for height.
- Llevar is required for height.
- Estar is required for height.
The lesson uses ser for general characteristics such as height.
Use ser for general physical characteristics in this lesson.
You and your sister both have brown eyes, but she has curly hair. Which answer matches?
- Un poco. Las dos tenemos los ojos marrones, pero ella tiene el cabello rizado.
- No. Las dos tenemos los ojos azules y el cabello liso.
- Sí. Ella es alta y yo soy baja.
- No. Las dos llevamos gafas y tenemos el cabello corto.
The sentence says that both people share brown eyes, while only the sister has curly hair.
Las dos tenemos los ojos marrones, pero ella tiene el cabello rizado.