How to Describe People in English
Tags: English Learning, English Language, English, Social Justice, Social

Hi I’m Vanessa from speak English with Vanessa.com let’s talk about describing people. Today I’m going to help you learn 82 expressions for describing people there are 3 different ways to describe people one of them is to describe their appearance I have brown hair the second way is to describe their personality or character I’m optimistic and the third way is to describe their actions or hobbies I’m a teacher I like cats today we’re going to specifically focus on how to describe someone or maybe your personality and character have you ever taken a personality test it’s kind of has tried to tell you something new about your character or maybe put you into a category you are a comforter you are enthusiastic you are a pessimist personally.

I hate almost every personality test and why do I need to test to tell me about my personality I already know my personality you probably learned a lot about me just from that statement I don’t need a test I don’t need someone else to tell me about my personality but having said that it’s sometimes personality test can be really helpful for expanding your vocabulary so that you can accurately describe people maybe you just got a new job and you want to tell your husband about your boss you wanna explain your boss’s character or maybe how your boss looks or some things that your boss does or maybe you’re on a first date with someone and you want to tell them the wonderful things about your personality you need to describe yourself so in this lesson I’m going to give you the vocabulary to accurately describe other people and also yourself today I want to ask you 6 questions to learn more about your personality the goal is to choose some of these nouns and adjectives and create a sentence or maybe a couple sentences describing yourself if you feel like this is too personal you can kind of create a list for someone else in your life at the end of this.

Listen I have some extra special material you’re gonna see a conversation with 5 native English speakers where we tried to describe each other hopefully this will help to also expand your vocabulary but you’ll have to wait until the end of this lesson all right let’s get started with the first question on this personality test personality test question number 1 are your travel plans generally organized what about your home and office are they pretty tidy tidy means clean things are orderly think about this for a moment organized tidy does this describe you think about this for 3 seconds choose yes or no 32 what hi let’s say you decided to say yes my travel plans are generally organized my home and office are pretty tidy what are some great adjectives we can use to describe you.

I am organized I’m put together I have it together here we’re talking about your life you have your life together it is organized I am organized I’m put together I have it together or you might say I’m AT tie 8 type is compared to be type which we’ll talk about in just a moment it means that you are quite orderly there is a place for everything in your life you might also add a qualifier to some of these expressions I am somewhat 8 type I’m kind of a type I’m free AT 8 type here work we’re listening to it a little bit you’re not 100 percent 8 type you’re not 100 percent organized I’m somewhat organized okay that’s fine most of us are kind of in the middle of a lot of these categories so it’s good to use these qualifiers I’m somewhat organized you might also say if you say yes to this that your travel plans are generally organized.

You might say I’m a doer do work here the root word is do you do things you don’t just think about them and wait for something to happen you do things you take action I’m a doer or you might say simply I’m clean things in my life are clean I’m a clean person what if you said no to this now my travel plans are not orderly my home in office they were rack well what is a magic because we can use to describe you you might be spontaneous or creative. If you are not a type you are beat type beats type means that you don’t always have things orderly maybe you tend to be slower at doing things you think about things a lot usually be tight people might be a little more of the creative spontaneous type that’s why you’re in this list.

We have some negative words that we can use to describe these people as well you might be scatterbrained here we can imagine. In your head things are not orderly they are scattered to scattered means an organized so if you say to someone you are scatter brained it is not nice you could say it about yourself that’s fine I’m scatterbrained but you don’t want to say that about someone else so during today’s lesson for these words that are definitely route to say to someone else I put a little star beside it so that you know hello I should probably be careful saying this to other people because these are always negative and the final thing you might say if you said no to this question is I’m not clean I’m messy my life is a messy my house is messy just things are not organized I’m messy did you write down some words that relate to your personality all right let’s go once the personality test question number 2 question number 2 is it easy to stay relaxed even when you have the pressure.

Do small events not change how you feel about the rest of the day maybe a small negative thing happens and who cares it doesn’t bother you you can just easily forget about it think about these questions is it true for you yes I can easily stay relaxed even when there’s pressure yes I can easily forget about little annoyances during the day or no it’s hard for me to feel relaxed even when there’s pressure think about this for you and let’s talk about some words in 3 to 5. But if you said yes to this it’s easy for me to feel relaxed even when there’s pressure and if they’re small and knowing things that happened during the day it doesn’t bother me what are some words we can use to describe you you can say I am easy going nothing phases me I’m optimistic I’m even keeled.

We talked about this word in a previous lesson where Dan and I talked about our relationship our marriage together he said that I am even keeled this is a great word you might say I’m confident I’m calm I’m rational these are all things that you might use to describe you if you say I can easily stay relaxed even when there’s pressure but what about if you said no to this question what if you said oh no I don’t easily feel relaxed I’m often not relaxed I’m often stressed what are some words we can use to describe you we might say I’m sensitive this means that things affect you easily it’s not always a negative thing of course it depends on the situation if you’re applying for a high stress job you don’t want to say I’m sensitive it’s probably if only means you’re not a good fit for the position but this could be just describe you personally I’m sensitive or maybe you might say I’m emotional your emotions play a big part in your life another way to say emotional is moody moody is always a negative thing this means you’re in a good mood you’re in a bad mood and you’re swinging between those moods and there’s no rhyme or reason that means there’s no predictability.

All one day or one moment you feel like this and the next day or the next moment you feel like this your movie this is stronger than emotional this is a much more negative than emotional so don’t tell someone your moody especially if they. R. moody it won’t go well do you know what the opposite of optimistic is you might be pessimistic pessimistic means that the glass is half empty the glass is not half full the glass is half empty this is an expression that means you always see the negative side or what if this happens you’re always asking what if in kind of that negative way of course it’s good to balance being optimistic and pessimistic but these are the 2 extremes the next 5 words mean something very similar and they’re all negative I don’t recommend telling someone else that they are these things of course you can save them about yourself if you would like you might say I’m up tight tight we can kind of imagine something inside of you is maybe twisted or tight and inside of you you don’t feel relaxed you are up tight or maybe your anxious you can say I’m anxious and that describes your personality but you might just be anxious about one thing.

I’m anxious about my exam tomorrow okay maybe in general you’re not an anxious person but you’re anxious about that specific activity that’s fine that’s not really describing your personality every day I’m often anxious no it’s just one specific thing or you might be highly strong high strung has that same feeling of. Right anxious high strung or you might be a worry here a worrier she is a warrior that means that she worries a lot this defines her personality she’s a worrier or you might say no Roddick he’s an erotic she’s an erotic I know Roddick this is quite strong your appetite and a lot of things bother you let’s go on to personality tests question number 3 there’s actually 3 questions in 1 here they are is it difficult to introduce yourself to new people do you feel tired after you spend time with a group of people is a good book or a good movie more interesting than a social events think about those questions for a moment is it difficult to introduce yourself to new people how do you feel when you get together with a group of people do you feel tired think about that for a moment the answer is yes or no 32 what. Imagine that you said.

Yeah it’s difficult to introduce myself to people I think that so when I get together with a group of people I feel so tired I would rather read a good book or watch a movie then go to a social event if you said yes to this let’s talk about some adjectives that can describe you you can say I am reserved I am shy I intimate I’m introverted or just simply I prefer small groups I know some people are like this they don’t like big groups they would rather get together with just one other person or maybe 2 or 3 other people not a group of 20 people I prefer small groups I’m introverted I’m reserved and shy and timid is are all great words. If you said no I feel energetic when I get together with a group of people I would rather go to a social outing it’s no problem to introduce myself to new people what is the words we can use to describe you you could say I’m out Goline I’m the life of the party now for this expression it’s probably better that someone else says this about you just because it’s maybe not so humble if you say I’m the life of the party it means that everybody loves me people love talking with me it’s probably better if your friend said yeah Vanessa she’s the life of the party instead of me saying it about myself but this might be expression expression.

You can use to talk about someone like this or you might be the opposite of introverted extroverted you are at ease in social situations you take initiative your social support initiative is a beautiful word we can imagine that when there are 2 people maybe and I gather rain and they both are kind of looking at each other but they don’t really want to start a conversation the person who starts the conversation that person takes initiative they took that opportunity so if you have no problem introducing yourself to other people or maybe asking questions at a store you take initiative let’s go on to question number 4 of this personality test do you often get lost in thought and kind of forget your surroundings do you think about the meaning of life. If you get lost in thought things are going on in your head and you’re thinking about those things not the things around you do you often think about the meaning of life what is life think about this question is it true for you so not true for you 321.

Yeah I do kind of often get lost in thought yeah I do think about the meaning of life often what are some words we can use to describe you you might say I am deep. Now this is an expression kind of like I’m the life of the party that it’s not so humble if someone is deep this is a compliment it means that they have a lot of wisdom so it’s probably better for you to say it about someone else I really like talking to my cousin he’s so deep he has such interesting thoughts instead of saying about yourself you might also say I care about finding truth this is another way to say deep I care about finding truth or you might be the kind of person who is critical I am critical of things if someone tells me something I often question it is it true it’s a real.

On the negative side you might say cynical cynical is always a negative word and that just means that yes that person asks questions but they always doubt they’re not just asking questions but they’re always doubting that’s true there’s no way that that’s true they’re cynical they’re always doubting if you often get lost in thought you might say I’m a dreamer I often like to daydream I lost in my own world I believe in my head these are all they’re not things that you want to say in a job interview but they’re not necessarily bad so you can save them to your friends or say them about yourself if you want to say this in a negative way you could say I’m 1000000 miles away or she’s 1000000 miles away she’s not paying attention she is 1000000 miles away that’s pretty negative and then if you want to be really negative you could say I’m an air head you can imagine your head is filled with nothing but air I am often lost in thought and I forget the things around me I am an air head this is a similar category as someone who often thinks about things but it’s quite different from being deep if you’re deep your head is filled with a lot of thoughts but then on the negative side you might say air head for having no thoughts you’re often lost in your own world your office in your head but you’re not thinking about anything just an air head what if you said no I’m not often lost in thought I don’t really think about the meaning of life that often life is life well why would I care what the meaning of life is what would you say on the other side you could say I’m alert you don’t often get lost in your thoughts because you’re looking around you are alert to the things going on around you.

You’ll notice little details maybe people who are lost in thought they’re not thinking about the physical details around them they don’t realize there’s a couple over there my friend just walked by but if you are alert you’re noticing those things you might also same I am detail oriented you notice lots of little details or you might say I am a student these are great things for a job interview I am detail oriented I’m alert and astute this means that you will not forget little things because you are organized you are able to keep track of physical details similar to alert you might say aware I’m aware of my surroundings you’re not lost in your head you are aware or you might be a realist a realist this is quite the opposite of somebody who’s thinking about the meaning of life well if I think about the meaning of life I’m never going to really find out so why would I waste my time a realist would say that so if you think that you might be a realist or you might just be practical practical and a realist are both quite similar your practical you’re not going to waste your time if you know that something won’t be profitable or won’t be helpful.

I don’t think it’s really helpful to contemplate the meaning of life I’m just practical this might be something you can use to describe you let’s go on to the next question personality test question number 5 when you want something do you often and not change your mind when you want something do you often not change your mind mmhm think about this is that true for you you don’t change your mind for. Change my mind is not so serious for me mmhm think about this 32 what. You said yes it is true for me when I want something I don’t often change my mind what are some words we can use to describe you we could say you are diligent you are motivated I want to study English I’m going to become fluent in English I’m going to feel more confident in English and I will be diligent I will study every day I’m motivated.

I will study every day you want something and you’re not going to be distracted these are positive expressions they’re great for job interviews they’re great general personality traits there’s some negative ways to describe this as well though you might be stubborn or we have a lovely idiom stubborn as a mule or we might say you are headstrong headstrong this means stubborn when you want something you often refuse to think about other options I want this I want this I want this I’m not gonna think about other things I’m stubborn or you might be adamant adamant this means that you stick with your opinion let’s imagine that your a teenager and your mom says I see I heard that you were drinking beer with some friends behind the school and you say no mom I wasn’t doing that I don’t know who you were talking with but it wasn’t it wasn’t me behind the school doing that and she says well I heard from this person that you were doing it you you stick with your opinion no it wasn’t me it wasn’t me there’s no way that was me you are adamant that that person was not you you are adamant about something this means that you refuse to change your story about something.

You are adamant you also might be opinionated you have opinions and you’re not really afraid to share them this isn’t necessarily a negative thing to be opinionated but of course if you are opinionated if you have strong opinions especially if these are opinions that are not shared with a lot of other people it’s great to be careful about how you present that. About how you share them with other people so that they don’t think that you are pushy pushy is always a negative thing if you are opinionated you need to talk about it in a in a specific way so that you don’t become pushy pushing your opinions on people you might be persistent this is similar to adamant but it’s in the negative way you are persistent I wasn’t drinking behind the school that wasn’t me you are persistently keeping with the same opinion persistent or maybe you have a 3 year old and that 3 year old is asking for candy I want candy candy that 3 year old is persistent they are wanting it and they’re telling you again and again if you can you might hear the word bossy.

I’m bossy she’s bossy he’s bossy this is similar to persistent adamant you’re telling someone you should do this you should do this you do this you do this like a boss but usually if you’re a good boss you don’t like that you’re much kinder but we use the term bossy for people who have an opinion and they’re not willing to change it in this negative way what if you said the opposite thing to this question what if you said actually sometimes I do change my mind I don’t always stick with exactly what I say I want every single time what are some other words we can use you could say I’m flexible I’m a compliant I am reasonable I’m open minded I’m agreeable these are all positive things.

But what if we take this to an extreme you might say I am submissive and means that you never stand up for yourself to stand up for yourself means that you have something you want and you never tell other people you are submissive maybe too submissive or we can use a great expression I often get walked on get walked on if you have an opinion and you always change it depending on what other people want we can imagine that you are like a doormat this is the thing that you walk on to enter a house this is you people are always walking on you I often get walked on your desires your needs often get forgotten because you don’t stand up for yourself I often get walked on you could say that about someone else yeah he often gets walked on because he doesn’t feel comfortable standing up for what he wants he doesn’t feel comfortable pushing what he wants.

So he just gets walked on let’s go to the next question question number 6 this is our final personality test question when people come over to your house when guests come to your house do they feel comfortable do you go above and beyond what is necessary to take care of them this is a great expression go above and beyond maybe it’s necessary to give them a glass of water okay when I guess come to your house you say sit on the couch here’s a glass of water but maybe you go above and beyond you do more than that so that your guests feel comfortable is that true for you your guests feel comfortable do you do more than is necessary think about that for a moment is it true or not true for you 321. This is true for you that you make your guests feel comfortable and you do more than is necessary let’s talk about a lot of adjectives that we could use to describe you you are hospitable nice friendly but here’s a big warning if you come from France Italy Spain Brazil Portugal these romantic language countries do not warning warning warning do not say sympathetic he did not say he is sympathetic she is sympathetic this does not mean nice in English this is a false friend and I hear a lot of people say this instead in English we do have the word sympathetic this means that.

Maybe your brother lost his job and when you go over to his house you bring him some flowers and you bring him a meal and you sit down and talk with him and you talk about that difficult hard time in his life because you are sympathetic to his difficulty we usually have a difficult situation happening and you didn’t personally experience that difficult thing but you feel his difficulty you feel his pain you are sympathetic so here we’re using it in a completely different sense than friendly friendly just means you’re nice but if someone has a difficult situation you are sympathetic to their problems you understand I think my brother’s really sad right now he’s probably worried about the future you are understanding his difficult times I hope I explain this word a sympathetic so that you do not use it and say but not so you’re so sympathetic.

No no no no no don’t use that all right what are some other words we can use you could say I’m compassionate I’m considerate I’m generous this means you give maybe your time or your money to other people you could say I’m warm I’m warm hard it this means that people feel this warm feeling when they’re with you they feel like you’re such a friendly person you could say I’m helpful I’m down to earth down to earth is an expression that we use to mean you are relatable people feel like your life is not so different from theirs you often hear this word described with celebrities celebrities movie stars they have lives that are much different than our own so they seem kind of untouchable so different but maybe there is one celebrity who relates to the problems of normal people someone might say oh yeah she’s really down to earth.

She’s down to earth her feet are on the she’s down to earth or you might say she’s sincere she’s genuine she’s really herself she’s not faking it she’s dependable or I am dependable your friends know that they can depend on you. What if you said no to this I imagine that you probably didn’t say no to this about yourself but you probably know somebody like this so let’s talk about the opposite someone who is maybe not so generous not so considerate or so friendly let’s talk about the opposite maybe you know someone who is unpleasant this is a little bit of a nicer way to say they’re so annoying they’re such a terrible person you could just say yeah he’s kind of unpleasant I don’t really like working with him unpleasant or someone might be selfish they’re not generous they don’t like to go above and beyond they’re kind of selfish or maybe you know someone who is self centered the world revolves around in their life they are self centered their self is the center of the universe they’re self centered so how did you do how did you answer all of these 6 personality test questions.

I hope you wrote down some adjectives that you can use to describe yourself right backs and it’s down in the comments but before we go I’d like to share some extra material with you today you’re gonna see a 5 native speakers they are 3 friends and plus my husband a plus to me we’re attempting to describe each other so I sat down with each of my friends individually and asked how would you describe this person how would you describe that person I didn’t tell them specifically to describe their personality or their character but you’ll see that a lot of these people they did describe their physical appearance a little bit but most of these descriptions had to do with their personality or character you can hear some of the words that we just talked about and maybe you’ll hear some new words as well let’s start with my friend Liz you’re gonna meet Liz heather Lauren and Dan they’re gonna be describing each other let’s see what everyone has to say about Liz how do they just. Dr Liz let’s watch it hi Liz. Liz is weighty and sarcastic to a fault.

Steeper inquisitive and very active player at yeah I am very good description for sure that’s something that I first recognized about Liz’s she’s really inquisitive actually ask great questions she’s curious about life yeah I say she’s adventurous for something like travel aren’t things that not so much food I think that and and she’s very loyal. Hello friend. Liz is very sarcastic. And. Smart. Quick witted. She’s funny. And she has nice pretty long brown hair that’s true I would describe Liz as very curious like out of many people I know not many people will ask you questions a lot. When Liz asks you a question she’ll ask more and more question which I’m not hate 9 I think it’s great yeah she’s also very assertive so whenever she has an opinion she usually makes it very clear it’s not hidden in anyway she’s also very friendly though so the assertiveness doesn’t like get in the way of her friendliness her friendliness shines through.

He just heard some amazing adjectives to describe the wonderful person of Liz let’s go on to the second person you’re gonna meet heather and let’s see how everyone describes heather hi. Heather is in short little person and she has brown hair and amazing freckles and she’s very creative and she’s an introvert she’s a good painter. She’s very smart she’s well traveled those are all true thing yeah heather is short like me. And she’s. Kind of got some like cheese dry humored so. Very subtle also very smart and well traveled she’s lived in lots of different places heather heather is very reserved yes when you get to know her she’s very fun loving she’s also very curious she’s kind of geeky she likes Harry potter and Star Wars and stuff like that but yeah she’s very fun and if you get together with her at a party you’re going to have a good time I hope you enjoy those adjectives to describe heather let’s go on to Lauren how does everyone described Lauren Lauren. Lord is also a short little person. She’s got sort of blonde dish brown here sort of a darker shade of blonde she has glasses.

She to me is very like business like and she likes to tell stories with a lot of details which are always interesting Laurie is shorts with short hair and glasses and I think she’s a geek. Could you explain what you mean by D. yeah interests yes a little bit about her entrance fees right whales curious about different knowledge and stuff she loves Star Wars. Repot exactly here partner movies she’s definitely a movie buff and she can remember almost everything. All these weird random data her mind is like a steel trap yes she knows every yeah I think she’s also a very loyal friend I’m a very caring yeah yeah I’ve been friends with her for 10 years yes and I feel like she is that kind of person she makes an effort yeah I guess effort in her relationships I think yeah that’s a great quality yeah Lauren Lauren Lauren is a very loyal I would say when she’s your friend she’s your friend for life sure remember you and she’s very detail oriented so remember all the details of your relationship I don’t mean this in a bad way I just mean there’s always somebody in your life who gives all those details about your life and she also knows a lot about it from my perspective a lot about pop culture he’s always filling me in on the details and maybe I understand something that she also understands and we can have a funny conversation about that usually Vanessa doesn’t understand yeah I don’t know much about topics such.

So Lauren is my window into this world yeah me to learn that stuff I hope you learn some great words with those explanations let’s go on to my husband Dan and see what everyone else has to say about dad hi I’m Dan. Damaso fun Dan is this tall skinny ginger he’s got very great amazing red hair he always has a lot of energy I think he’s always like I’m Dan. He I feel like has a lot of strong opinions about things which I really like. And he’s made here and has a baby. True facts I think he’s very relaxed in some ways but also cares about details in other ways kind of hard to describe it is true that is true. Dan is a tall skinny redhead. I think he is very creative. And I would just kind of has an adventurous not afraid to take risks mmhm inquisitive.

Can you needed I think I think he has opinions and he said his name but I think he’s also open for discussion okay yeah Dan. Dan Dan. Dan is then and he has red hair very red hair. And he can be kinda loud and enthusiastic that’s a good word for Dan he’s very intelligent too and adventurous he’s been to lots of lots of different things and learning he likes to learn those are some great adjectives to describe Dan oops I forgot to say that my friends are also going to describe me here we go you. You don’t think so delightful first we’re not just because you’re in the room but because you are just delightful very like effervescent personality so I feel like you’re very uplifting for other people you bring a lot of joy to people I feel like you always seem like you have it together. Definitely my like most overriding impression of you as you have it together you’re also very good host your excellent with hospitality and obviously we share a love of reading so I know that you’re very well read and I like that you get very interested in specific topics when I. She’s like island did research and I found this out in this in this and it was just like very interesting so I think it’s quite true that when I’m interested in something I’m really go all the way it’s going. Well thank you for your kind words yes and that. Tell me what you think. I think you’re probably one of the kindest people I’ve ever met.

Yeah I think you’re just very genuinely nice. Thank. Right. You know when you’re not around. I think you’re also very inquisitive and very later it’s mmhm I like to read I think yeah I think you’re very curious about the world and people like Liz I think where you and Dan fit well together he seems super creative comes up with ideas but you’re very good at implementing ideas I think you’re going to keep you on task okay I focusing on the voice yes sun. I think you need that you run your own business several I think that is a good quality yeah I’m going to be able to focus yes exactly I think you are very good at having fun but also gave the work that the serious when I yeah exactly and that’s the is kind and warm and likes to learn as well well traveled. Also. And you have pretty brown here too thank you. Vanessa no pressure I’m your wife I number 92 is wonderful. But probably the nicest person on earth. Bye nice system and also just like sincere she’s always very sincere very caring very curious always sincerely interested in most people’s topics like I’ll hear even a boring person saying something and she’ll be like. And I don’t think she’s making it up either I think she’s a very interested yeah life is interesting everyone has something interesting if you listen close enough yes but yes she’s also very fun very fun loving you can do a lot with their obviously.

I like Vanessa a lot. As I decided to marry her so I’m glad you liked me a lot we get along very well and I like. Yeah about 99 percent of the NASA thank you I will ask about the one percent yet I hope you enjoyed today’s a long intense English vocabulary lesson now I have a challenge for you in the comments below this video I want you to try to write a sentence or 2 or 3 describing yourself well maybe describing someone else in your life try to fill it with these wonderful adjectives some of these are nouns as well to describe yourself it’s a great way to remember them try to ingrain them in your memory thanks so much for learning English with me and I’ll see you again next Friday for a new lesson here on my YouTube channel might. The next step is to download my free ebook 5 steps to becoming a confident English speaker you’ll learn what you need to do to speak confidently. Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more free lessons thanks so much bye.