Describing People

Generally, when you describe a person’s appearance, you are talking either about qualities and characteristics that describe them (adjectives) or features that they possess (nouns). Below are some ways to describe people. I hope others will add more.

Describing people with adjectives is easy: Tá sé/sí/siad [adjective]

Tá sé ard – He is tall

Tá sí beag – She is short/small

Tá siad mór – They are big

Tá Séan ramhar – John is fat/stout

Tá Sinéad tanaí – Jane is thin

Tá an t-othar lag – The patient is weak

Tá na hoibrithe láidir – The workers are strong

Tá sé go deas – He is nice/handsome

Tá sí go deas – She is nice/pretty

Tá siad go hálainn – They are beautiful

Tá sé amaideach – He is foolish

Tá sé éirmiúil – She is talented/intelligent

Tá siad glic – They are sly/crafty

Tá siad cairdiúil – They are friendly

Tá siad éagairdiúil – They are unfriendly

Tá sé rua – He is a redhead or He as a ruddy complexion

Tá sí fionn – She is blond or She has a pale, fair complexion

Tá siad dubh – They have black hair or They have a dark complexion

As far as skin pigment goes, white (Caucasian) people are “geal” while black (African) people are “gorm.”

When describing physical features, usually we are dealing with things that are understood as being either on a person (generally, a removable or alterable feature, something that could be taken “off” easily) or at a person (“something is at him” is the Irish was of saying “he has something” — these tend to be more permanent characteristics):

Tá gruaig rua air – He has red hair (Red hair is on him)

Tá gruaig fhionn uirthi – She is blond/has blond hair (Fair hair is on her)

Tá gruaig dhubh ort – You have black hair

Tá gruaig dhonn orm – I have brown hair

Tá féasóg air – He has a beard

Tá croiméal air – He has a moustache

The forms of “ar” are: orm (on me), ort (on you, singular), air (on him), uirthi (on her), orainn (on us), oraibh (on you, plural), orthu (on them).

Tá súile gorma aige – He has blue eyes

Tá súile dubha aici – She has black eyes

Tá súile uaine agat – You have green eyes

Tá súile liatha ag Seán – John has gray eyes

Tá súile donna ag Máire – Mary has hazel/brown eyes

Tá srón mhór ag Míchéal – Michael has big nose

Tá lámha fada ag Áine – Áine has long hands

Tá cosa beaga ag an gcailín – The girl has small feet.

The forms of “ag” are: agam (at me), agat (at you, singular), aige (at him), aici (at her), againn (at us), agaibh (at you, plural), acu (at them).

The words for some parts of the body are as follows:

head – ceann

face – aghaidh

eye – súil

nose – srón

mouth – béal

lip – liopa

lips – beola

tooth – fiacal

tongue – teanga

ear – cluas

hair – gruaig

shoulder – gualainn

arm – lámh, sciathán

hand – lámh

finger – méar

chest – ucht

belly – bolg

back – droim

leg – cos

foot – cos

toe – méar choise

knee – glúin