An important part of learning how to communicate day to day in a new language is knowing how to describe people. Whether you want to say someone is tall or that they are kind, you need to have the vocabulary to express yourself.
If you have already read our article on the 100 most common Korean adjectives you will be familiar with some of the words used to describe a person in Korean. Now you just have to learn how to use those adjectives in a sentence.
The simple sentence structure in Korean when using adjectives is:
Subject or topic + adjective predicate.
The examples below use plain written style, often ending in 다. They are not polite conversational sentences. In conversation, use suitable endings such as 예뻐요. 그는 and 그녀는 are more common in writing than in everyday speech; names or omitted subjects are often more natural when the person is clear. Hair descriptions such as 우진이 머리는 use a familiar name form with possession understood.
Descriptions such as 뚱뚱하다 and 못생겼다 can sound insulting. Use them with care.
Let’s check a few examples using this structure!
- 그는 크다 (geuneun keuda) = He is big.
- 그녀는 작다 (geunyeoneun jakda) = She is small.
- 미나는 예쁘다 (minaneun yeppeuda) = Mina is pretty.
Make sure you understand this structure and then you are ready to continue to the next part—where you will be learning the vocabulary.
Physical features: how to describe someone’s appearance
One of the most useful ways of describing someone is by their physical appearance, especially when you need to describe a person that you don’t know the name of, or that you don’t know personally.
Let’s say you need to ask a friend if they know the name of the “tall guy with blond hair in their class.” That description is probably enough for them to understand who you are talking about, but in order to say that in Korean you need some of the vocabulary we will see in the next few tables.
Following the example of someone with blond hair, here we have a few ways of describing a person’s hair:
| Korean | Revised Romanization | English |
|---|---|---|
| 우진이 머리는 짧다. | ujini meorineun jjalda. | Woojin has short hair. |
| 해우는 머리 길이가 중간 정도이다. | haeuneun meori giriga junggan jeongdoida. | Haewoo has medium-length hair. |
| 은선이 머리는 길다. | eunseoni meorineun gilda. | Eunseon’s hair is long. |
| 성민이 머리는 금발이다. | seongmini meorineun geumbalida. | Seongmin’s hair is blond. |
| 미영이 머리는 갈색이다. | miyeongi meorineun galsaegida. | Miyeong’s hair is brown. |
| 광선이 머리는 검은색이다. | gwangseoni meorineun geomeunsaegida. | Gwangseon has black hair. |
| 재이는 곱슬머리다. | jaeineun gopseulmeorida. | Jaei has curly hair. |
| 진애 머리는 약간 구불거린다. | jinae meorineun yakgan gubulgeorinda. | Jinae has slightly wavy hair. |
| 연희 머리는 빨간색이다. | yeonhui meorineun ppalgansaegida. | Yeonhui has red hair. |
| 관이 머리는 부드럽다. | gwani meorineun budeureopda. | Gwan has soft hair. |
Skin and eye color can also be very helpful, here we have a few useful examples:
| Korean | Revised Romanization | English |
|---|---|---|
| 그녀는 피부가 희다. | geunyeoneun pibuga huida. | She has fair skin. |
| 그는 피부가 검다. | geuneun pibuga geomda. | He has dark skin. |
| 그는 눈이 파랗다. | geuneun nuni parata. | He has blue eyes. |
| 그는 눈이 갈색이다. | geuneun nuni galsaegida. | He has brown eyes. |
| 그녀의 눈은 초록색이다. | geunyeoui nuneun choroksaegida. | She has green eyes. |
Of course we cannot forget height and weight. Chances are that you will mention a person’s height when describing them to someone.
Let’s check a few examples.
| Korean | Revised Romanization | English |
|---|---|---|
| 그녀는 키가 작다. | geunyeoneun kiga jakda. | She is short. |
| 그는 키가 크다. | geuneun kiga keuda. | He is tall. |
| 그녀는 날씬하다. | geunyeoneun nalssinhada. | She is slim. |
| 그는 뚱뚱하다. | geuneun ttungttunghada. | He is fat. |
| 그는 말랐다. | geuneun mallatda. | He is thin. |
How to describe a person’s abilities and features
Of course, not everything falls under the physical appearance category. Here we will learn how to describe a person’s abilities and their other features.
| Korean | Revised Romanization | English |
|---|---|---|
| 그녀는 빠르다. | geunyeoneun ppareuda. | She is fast. |
| 그는 느리다. | geuneun neurida. | He is slow. |
| 그녀는 강하다. | geunyeoneun ganghada. | She is strong. |
| 그녀는 약하다. | geunyeoneun yakada. | She is weak. |
| 그녀는 예쁘다. | geunyeoneun yeppeuda. | She is pretty. |
| 그는 잘생겼다. | geuneun jalsaenggyeotda. | He is handsome. |
| 그는 미남이다. | geuneun minamida. | He is a handsome man. |
| 그녀는 못생겼다. | geunyeoneun motsaenggyeotda. | She is ugly. |
Pretty and handsome still describe appearance, but they express subjective judgments rather than directly measurable physical characteristics such as height.
What are they like? How to describe personality
Everything we have seen so far has not been very personal. We learned how to say that someone is tall or that they have blue eyes, but we have yet to learn how to express what we think of people’s personalities.
Here we have a list with some of the most useful ways of describing someone’s personality. Let’s check it out!
| Korean | Revised Romanization | English |
|---|---|---|
| 그녀는 친절하다. | geunyeoneun chinjeolhada. | She is kind / friendly. |
| 그녀는 정직하다. | geunyeoneun jeongjikada. | She is honest. |
| 그는 웃긴다. | geuneun utginda. | He makes people laugh / is funny. |
| 그녀는 용감하다. | geunyeoneun yonggamhada. | She is brave. |
| 그는 교양 있는 사람이다. | geuneun gyoyang inneun saramida. | He is a cultured person. |
| 그녀는 열심히 일하는 사람이다. | geunyeoneun yeolsimhi ilhaneun saramida. | She is a hardworking person. |
| 그는 친절하다. | geuneun chinjeolhada. | He is kind. |
| 그는 진지하다. | geuneun jinjihada. | He is serious / earnest. |
| 그는 예의가 없다. | geuneun yeuiga eopda. | He is bad-mannered. |
| 그녀는 게으르다. | geunyeoneun geeureuda. | She is lazy. |
| 그는 잘 참는다. | geuneun jal chamneunda. | He is patient / endures things well. |
| 그녀는 똑똑하다. | geunyeoneun ttokttokada. | She is intelligent. |
| 그는 재미있다. | geuneun jaemiitda. | He is fun / interesting. |
| 그녀는 수줍다. | geunyeoneun sujupda. | She is shy. |
| 그녀는 조용하다. | geunyeoneun joyonghada. | She is quiet. |
| 그는 좋은 사람이다. | geuneun joeun saramida. | He is a good / nice person. |
| 그녀는 이기적이다. | geunyeoneun igijeogida. | She is selfish. |
Conclusion
Hopefully, thanks to the simple structure these sentences follow you were able to notice the pattern in word repetition and improve your vocabulary.
With what you have learned in this lesson you should be able to describe people with ease and even form your own sentences based on the examples.
Try creating a description of yourself and other people as a way of practicing. You can start combining the examples, and soon you will be able to create more complex descriptions.
REVIEW AND REPEAT DAILY, AND YOU WILL SEE PROGRESS!
화이팅!!