Talking about family and friends in Spanish

• Use verbsser (to be) and tener (to have) to describe physical characteristics and personality.

• Adjectives generally go after the noun in Spanish and agree with the noun they are describing.

• Use comparative adjectives to compare two things.

• Higher Tier - Use superlative adjectives to compare more than one thing.

• This guide contains listening and reading practice.

Watch the video of Denia talking about her family and friends, as well as talking to other people about themselves.

Describe what people, animals and things look like using adjectives and either:

• the verb ser - to be

• the verb tener - to have

To ask someone what they look like, ask the question:

¿Cómo eres? - What do you look like?

To describe physical appearance, use the relevant part of the verbser (to be).

Useful adjectives for describing people, animals and things using the verb ser include:

To describe hair and eyes, use the relevant part of the verb tener (to have).

To describe someone's hair and eyes use:

• el pelo - hair
• los ojos - eyes

Useful adjectives for describing hair and eyes using the verb tener include:

Use adjectives to describe hair, eyes, height and personality.

In Spanish, adjectives usually go after the noun.

For example:

Tiene el pelo (noun) negro (adjective). - He has black hair.

Tengo los ojos (noun) azules (adjective). - I have blue eyes.

In Spanish, adjectives must agree with the noun.

For regular adjectives, change the o to a when using it with a feminine noun, and add s for a plural noun.

For example:

Adjectives that end in a consonant, such as l, do not change between the masculine and the feminine. Add es to the adjective when describing a plural noun.

For example:

When describing a physical feature such as hair and eyes, the adjective agrees with the feature, not the person.

For example:

Mi hermana tiene los ojos verdes. - My sister has green eyes.

The Spanish word for eyes, ojos, is masculine and plural, so verdes has a s on the end.

Remember

To describe the style, length and colour of someone’s hair, and therefore using more than one adjective, add the word y (and) between the last two adjectives.

For example:

Mi hermana tiene el pelo rubio y largo. - My sister has long, blond hair.

Tengo el pelo corto y negro. - I have short, black hair.

Tienen el pelo castaño y rizado. - They have brown (chestnut), curly hair.

Look at the adjectives guide to find out more about adjectival position and agreement in Spanish.

Listen to each of the clips of Antonio, Elena and Javier describing members of their family and answer the questions.

Use ser (to be) when describing character and personality.

Useful adjectives to describe people’s character and personality include:

All Foundation Tier vocabulary listed in this guide can be found on the vocabulary sheet below.

To form a comparative adjective and say that something is ‘more than’ something else, use más plus the adjective followed by que.

For example:

Luis es más trabajador que Emilio. - Luis is more hard-working than Emilio.

To say that something is ‘less than’ something else use menos plus the adjective plus que.

For example:

Ana es menos ordenada que Carmen. - Ana is less tidy than Carmen.

Common irregular comparatives include:

mejor que - better than

peor que - worse than

For example:

Jorge sabe cocinar mucho mejor que yo. - Jorge knows how to cook much better than me.

Look at the Comparatives and superlatives adjectives guide to find out more about comparatives in Spanish.

Read this article about personality types, taken from a psychology magazine, then have a go at the activity below.

Un estudio reciente revela que existen cuatro tipos de personalidades, pero la mayoría de las personas tiene diferentes tipos de carácter:

Tipo A: Estas personas se caracterizan por tener un tipo de comportamiento tranquilo: nunca se ponen enojadas y a veces son tímidas. No les gusta mostrar sus emociones y prefieren evitar ser el centro de atención.

Tipo B: Estas personas son muy extrovertidas. Parecen estar completamente seguras de sí mismas y siempre tienen muchos amigos. Son personas muy activas y les encantan las fiestas.

Tipo C: Las personas que tienen este tipo de personalidad son independientes. Son personas ambiciosas y positivas y les gusta inspirar y organizar a la gente. Sin embargo, se ponen enojados a menudo.

Tipo D: Este tipo de persona es muy artística y creativa. Tiene muchas ideas originales y es muy imaginativa, pero encuentra difícil organizarse.

Click or tap on the image below for a list of useful vocabulary to use when describing yourself or others.

Useful Higher Tier adjectives for describing character and personality include:

All Foundation and Higher Tier vocabulary listed in this guide can be found on the vocabulary sheet below.

Superlativesare used to compare things and say which one is the biggest, strongest, fastest, etc or the most/least.

For example:

Javier es el más alto. - Javier is the tallest.

Ana es la menos trabajadora. - Ana is the least hardworking.

To form superlative adjectives to say that something is ‘the most’, use el/la/los/las followed by más and the adjective.

To say that something is ‘the least’, use el/la/los/las followed by menos and the adjective.

El/la/los/las mean ‘the’ and change according to whether the noun is masculine or feminine and singular or plural.

Common irregular superlatives include:

el/la mejor, los/las mejores - the best

el/la peor, los/las peores - the worst

For example:

Es el mejor profesor del colegio. - He’s the best teacher in the school.

Look at the Comparatives and superlatives adjectives guide to find out more about superlatives in Spanish.

Click or tap on the image below for a list of useful Higher Tier vocabulary to use when describing yourself or others.

Now you have revised the important vocabulary and key grammar points for describing family and friends why not have a look at the Talking about life at school in Spanish?