Vocabulary: appearance and personality

Describe what people look like and what they are like. Remember that adjectives agree with the person.

Practise this lesson free (7 questions)

Appearance

Hair: J'ai les cheveux courts et frisés. Châtain (light brown) adds -s in the plural: les cheveux châtains.
FrenchEnglish
les cheveux (m)hair
les yeux (m)eyes
le visageface
la barbebeard
les lunettes (f)glasses
blond(e)blond
roux, roussered-haired, ginger
châtainlight brown (hair)
frisé(e)curly
court(e)short (hair, length)
long, longuelong
minceslim
gros, grossefat, big
grand(e)tall, big
petit(e)small, short (height)

Personality: positive

Feminine forms: -eux becomes -euse, -eur becomes -euse, -if becomes -ive.
FrenchEnglish
gentil, gentillekind
sympanice, friendly
drôlefunny
travailleur, travailleusehard-working
sérieux, sérieuseserious
patient(e)patient
généreux, généreusegenerous
honnêtehonest
poli(e)polite
bavard(e)chatty
calmecalm
sportif, sportivesporty
fidèle (H)loyal

Personality and feelings

Fier, inquiet and their feminine forms fière, inquiète are Higher words.
FrenchEnglish
paresseux, paresseuselazy
égoïsteselfish
méchant(e)nasty, mean
impoli(e)rude
timideshy
tristesad
content(e)pleased
heureux, heureusehappy
fou, follemad, crazy
fatigué(e)tired
ennuyeux, ennuyeuseboring
fier, fière (H)proud
inquiet, inquiète (H)worried
Worked example

Translate: My sister has long red hair and she is very generous.

  1. has ... hair = a les cheveux
  2. long red = longs et roux (masculine plural, agreeing with cheveux)
  3. generous, for a girl = généreuse

Answer: Ma sœur a les cheveux longs et roux et elle est très généreuse.

Key idea

Les cheveux courts / longs / frisés, blond, roux, châtain; mince, grand, petit. Gentil, sympa, drôle, travailleur, généreux, honnête, bavard. Paresseux, égoïste, méchant, timide; heureux, triste, fatigué.

Key words
grand
tall, big
petit
small, short
sympa
nice, kind
travailleur
hard-working
généreux
generous
heureux
happy

All GCSE and International GCSE French key terms and definitions →

Quick check

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Extra practice

2 more questions

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  1. What does les cheveux mean?

    1. eyes
    2. horses
    3. face
    4. hair
    Show the answer

    Answer: hair

    Les cheveux = hair.

  2. Which is the French for "slim"?

    1. mince
    2. frisé(e)
    3. petit(e)
    4. gros(se)
    Show the answer

    Answer: mince

    Slim = mince.

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Practise this lesson free (7 questions)All GCSE and International GCSE French lessons

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Sources and references

Last updated 2 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix it.

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