Describing People In German

How would you describe your mother, father or siblings? Who is the eldest? Who is the funniest?

Let's learn how to answer these questions, in German, starting off with some important family-related vocabulary.

Describing Who Is In The Family

Here is a simple description of a family:

Meine Mutter heißt Linda und mein Vater heißt Ghanem. Ich habe eine ältere Schwester namens Sara und zwei jüngere Brüder namens Tarek und Sami.

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My mother's name is Sarah and my father's name is Ghanem. I have an older sister called Sara and two younger brothers called Tarek and Sami.

The description includes the names of the family members, and their relationships to the speaker.

In the exercise below, try to pair each illustration with the correct description.

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Descriptions:

Well done! 🎉

Let's move on.

Describing Appearance

Okay, now that we know what to call members of the family, in German, we can begin describing them.

Here is some important vocabulary to get us started:

Facial Features

Describing A Person's Facial Features

Describing A Person's Size & Shape

Describing A Person's Age

Special Mention: aussehen

When describing the appearance of something, an important verb to keep in mind is aussehen, which means 'to appear / to look'.

You may use this verb like so:

Exercise

With the adjectives you have just learned in mind, take a look at the images below, and complete the descriptions.

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Descriptions:

Well done! 🎉

You are using adjectives to describe family members! Now, let's learn how to describe their personalities.

Describing A Person's Personality

With the adjectives you have just learned in mind, complete the sentences below.

Describing People Exercise

Finally, let's combine appearance and personality descriptions.

Here are some examples of complete descriptions of families. Carefully ready through them.

It's okay if there are some words that are unfamiliar; try to infer the general meaning of each sentence, with the words you do understand.

Hallo, mein Name ist Paul. Der Name meiner Frau ist Miriam. Zusammen haben wir drei Kinder. Wir haben eine Tochter und zwei Söhne. Alex, unsere Tochter, ist die Älteste. Sie ist schüchtern und liebt es, zu Hause zu sein und Bücher zu lesen. Unsere Söhne, Tarek und Caleb, sind beide eher extrovertiert und lieben es, mit ihren Freunden zu feiern.

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Hello, my name is Paul. My wife's name is Miriam. Together we have three children. We have a daughter and two sons. Alex, our daughter, is the oldest. She is shy and loves to be at home and ready books. Our sons, Tarek and Caleb, are both more extroverted, and love to party with their friends.

Hallo, ich glaube, ich habe meine Familie verloren. Sie müssen irgendwo im Park sein; nicht zu weit weg. Mein Mann, Patrick, ist groß und hat rote, lockige Haare. Ich habe auch eine Tochter, Lucy, die klein und schlank ist, mit braunen Haaren und Augen. Sie sind beide sehr freundlich. Haben Sie sie vielleicht gesehen?

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Hello, I think I've lost my family. They must be somewhere in the park; not too far away. My husband, Patrick, is tall and has red, curly hair. I also have a daughter, Lucy, who is short and slim, with brown hair and eyes. They are both very friendly. Have you seen them, perhaps?

Gestern habe ich also Katjas Familie getroffen. Sie waren alle sehr freundlich. Ihre Mutter ist eine große Frau, mit glattem, schwarzem Haar und einer kleinen Nase. Ihr Vater ist groß und stark, mit schmalen Lippen und sehr kurzen Haaren. Sie sind beide organisiert und klug. Katjas Großmutter war auch da. Sie ist eine kleine Frau mit lockigen, weißen Haaren und kleinen Augen. Sie war sehr lustig. Zum Schluss habe ich Katjas Bruder kennen gelernt; er ist so ein molliges Baby! Er ist sehr süß.

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So, yesterday I met Katja's family. They were all very friendly. Her mother is a tall woman, with straight, black hair and a small nose. Her father is big and strong, with thin lips and very short hair. They are both organised and smart. Katja's Grandma was also there. She is a short woman, with curly, white hair and small eyes. She was very funny. Lastly, I met Katja's brother; he's such a chubby baby! He is very sweet.

Now complete the multi-choice quiz below, to test your reading comprehension skills:

Well done! 🎉

You are starting to describe people's appearances and personalities, in German.

Whenever you're ready, head over to the next lesson: Commands In German