Describing people in Chinese

Ever tried describing people in Chinese? After this free audio lesson, you’ll know some Chinese adjectives to describe someone’s appearance and the kind of person they are as well. This is going to make Chinese conversations a whole lot more interesting – let’s hope you don’t decide ignorance is bliss!

How do you explain someone is good-looking? What is the Chinese word for lazy? Listen to the Rocket Chinese speakers and practice saying the words and phrases aloud. Describing people in Chinese can be fun – let’s get started!

Resources for further reading:

Pronunciation help for describing people in Chinese

A chinese lady

Practice Your Pronunciation With Rocket Record

Rocket Record lets you perfect your Chinese pronunciation. Just listen to the native speaker audio and then use the microphone icon to record yourself. Once you’re done, you’ll get a score out of 100 on your pronunciation and can listen to your own audio playback. (Use a headset mic for best results.) Problems? Click here!

尼克头发短。

Níkè tóufà duǎn。

Nik has short hair.

丽莎头发长。

Lìshā tóufà cháng。

Lisa has long hair.

她头发不长也不短。

Tā tóufà bùcháng yě bùduǎn。

She has medium-length hair.

他头发直。

Tā tóufà zhí。

He has straight hair.

她头发卷曲。

Tā tóufà juǎnqǔ。

She has wavy hair.

汀娜有一头卷发。

Tīngnà yǒu yìtóu juǎnfà。

Tina has curly hair.

玛丽安有棕色的头发。

Mǎlì’ān yǒu zōngsè de tóufà。

Maria has brown hair.

彼得有黑色的头发。

Bǐdé yǒu hēisè de tóufà。

Peter has black hair.

奥莉有金黄色的头发。

Àolì yǒu jīnhuángsè de tóufà。

Oli has blond hair.

罗丝有红色的头发。

Luósī yǒu hóngsè de tóufà。

Rosi has red hair.

What about eyes and skin color?

他有一双棕色的眼睛。

Tā yǒu yìshuāng zōngsè de yǎnjīng。

He has brown eyes.

她有一双浅蓝色的眼睛。

Tā yǒu yìshuāng qiǎnlánsè de yǎnjīng。

She has light blue eyes.

他有一双蓝色的眼睛。

Tā yǒu yìshuāng lánsè de yǎnjīng。

He has blue eyes.

他有深色皮肤。

Tā yǒu shēnsè pífū。

He is dark-skinned.

她有白嫩的皮肤。

Tā yǒu báinèn de pífū。

She is fair-skinned.

Chinese mother and daughter

What about other features, like height and weight?

她个子不高。

Tā gèzi bùgāo。

She is short.

他个子很高。

Tā gèzi hěngāo。

He is tall.

她很瘦。

Tā hěnshòu。

She is thin.

他很胖。

Tā hěnpàng。

He is fat.

他身材瘦削。

Tā shēncái shòuxuē。

He is skinny.

What about other abilities and features?

她动作快。

Tā dòngzuò kuài。

She is fast.

他动作慢。

Tā dòngzuò màn。

He is slow.

她身体强壮。

Tā shēntǐ qiángzhuàng。

She is strong.

他很帅。

Tā hěn shuài。

He is handsome.

他模样很好。

Tā múyàng hěnhǎo。

He is good-looking.

她很难看。

Tā hěn nánkàn。

She is ugly.

What about personality?

她很友善。

Tā hěn yǒushàn。

She is friendly.

他人很好。

Tā rén hěnhǎo。

He is nice.

她很静。

Tā hěnjìng。

She is quiet.

她很害羞。

Tā hěn hàixiū。

She is shy.

他很幽默。

Tā hěn yōumò。

He is humorous.

她很聪明。

Tā hěn cōngmíng。

She is intelligent.

他很有耐心。

Tā hěn yǒunàixīn。

He is patient.

她很懒。

Tā hěn lǎn。

She is lazy.

他行为恶劣。

Tā xíngwéi èliè。

He is ill-behaved.

他很严肃。

Tā hěn yánsù。

He is serious.

他很厚道。

Tā hěn hòudào。

He is kind.

她很勤劳。

Tā hěn qínláo。

She is hard-working.

他很世故。

Tā hěn shìgù。

He is sophisticated.

她很勇敢。

Tā hěn yǒnggǎn。

She is brave.

他很风趣。

Tā hěn fēngqù。

He is funny.

她很穷。

Tā hěnqióng。

She is poor.

她很富有。

Tā hěn fùyǒu。

She is rich.

Here are a few recommended Chinese lessons to try next!

下次见! Xiàcì jiàn!

Lin Ping: Rocket Chinese

Make It Stick With Rocket Reinforcement

Reinforce your learning from this lesson with the Rocket Reinforcement activities!