Language/Afrikaans/Vocabulary/Describing-People-and-Appearance
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As an Afrikaans language teacher with over 20 years of experience, one of my favorite topics to teach is describing people and appearance. It's always interesting to see how students approach this topic and what physical features and personality traits they find important in describing others. In this lesson, I will guide you through the vocabulary necessary to describe people and their appearance in Afrikaans.
With the completion of this lesson, consider investigating these related pages: Verbs & Time.
Describing Physical Appearance
When we describe someone's physical appearance, we often start with the person's height and build. Here's some Afrikaans vocabulary to help you with that:
Afrikaans | Pronunciation | English |
---|---|---|
Lank | /laŋk/ | Tall |
Kort | /kɔrt/ | Short |
Groot | /ɡroʊt/ | Big/Tall |
Fyn | /fɑɪn/ | Fine/Slender |
Swaar | /swer/ | Heavy |
After height and build, we may also describe other physical features such as hair and eye color, complexion, and facial features:
Afrikaans | Pronunciation | English |
---|---|---|
Blond | /blɔnt/ | Blond |
Bruin | /brœin/ | Brown |
Swart | /swɑrt/ | Black |
Rood | /roʊt/ | Red |
Groen | /ɡrʊin/ | Green |
Blou | /blu/ | Blue |
Helderrooi | /hɛldəroʊi/ | Bright Red |
Pikswart | /pikswɑrt/ | Pitch Black |
Vaal | /vɑl/ | Pale |
Gesond | /xəsont/ | Healthy |
Bleek | /bleɪk/ | Pale/Sallow |
Rooi | /roʊi/ | Red |
Facial features are also important aspects when describing someone's physical appearance. Here are some Afrikaans words to describe these features:
Afrikaans | Pronunciation | English |
---|---|---|
Oë | /ui/ | Eyes |
Neus | /nœs/ | Nose |
Wang | /vɑŋk/ | Cheek |
Mond | /moʊnt/ | Mouth |
Kin | /kin/ | Chin |
Wenkbroue | /vɛŋkbrouə/ | Eyebrows |
Baard | /bɑrt/ | Beard |
Now that you have a variety of vocabulary to describe physical appearance, let's move onto describing personality traits:
Describing Personality Traits
When we describe someone's personality traits, we often use adjectives to describe the person's behavior or demeanor. Here are some Afrikaans words to describe personality traits:
Afrikaans | Pronunciation | English |
---|---|---|
Vriendelik | /frɪəndəlik/ | Friendly |
Tog | /tɔχ/ | Thoughful |
Slim | /slɪm/ | Clever |
Dom | /dɔm/ | Dumb |
Koelbloedig | /kuəlbluədəχ/ | Calm and Collected |
Vergeetagtig | /vərχeɪtɑχtəχ/ | Forgetful |
Sleg | /slɛχ/ | Bad |
Goed | /ɡut/ | Good/Well |
Koel | /kuəl/ | Cool/Calm |
We can also describe how someone is feeling or their emotional state:
Afrikaans | Pronunciation | English |
---|---|---|
Bly | /bleɪ/ | Happy |
Siek | /sik/ | Sick |
Swaar | /swer/ | Heavy/Sad |
Kwaad | /kwɑːt/ | Angry |
Traurig | /traʊriχ/ | Sad |
Bang | /bɑŋ/ | Scared |
Examples
To give you a better idea of how we can use these words to describe someone, I'll provide some examples below:
- Daardie man is baie groot en vriendelik. (That man is very tall and friendly.)
- Sy het 'n mooi blou oë en blond hare. (She has beautiful blue eyes and blond hair.)
- Hy is slim en vergeetagtig. (He's clever and forgetful.)
- Sy lyk swaar vandag. (She looks sad today.)
Practice
To practice describing physical appearance and personality traits, find someone in your class or someone you know well and try using the vocabulary we've learned today to describe them. You can use the examples above as a guide.
Conclusion
In this lesson, we covered the vocabulary needed to describe physical appearance and personality traits in Afrikaans. With this knowledge, you should now be able to describe someone in Afrikaans with ease. Keep practicing and trying out your new vocabulary with different people!
Excellent job on conquering this lesson! Consider delving into these related pages: Days of the Week & Colors.
Other Lessons
- Numbers and Shopping
- Education
- Family
- Colors
- Count to 10
- Daily Routine and Activities
- Fruits
- Saying Hello and Goodbye
- Drinks
- Animals
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