Describing People in Polish: Looks & Character
"Which one is Michał?" — after this lesson you can answer: the tall one, dark hair, glasses, always cheerful. Descriptions run on the ma-pattern plus the adjective agreement you've owned since Chapter 1.
Height and Age
wysoki (tall), niski (short), młody (young), stary (old — starszy is politer for people: older). All agreeing as usual: wysoki mężczyzna, wysoka kobieta.
Hair and Eyes
The pattern: ma + accusative — someone has their features.
| Polish | English |
|---|---|
| Ona ma długie włosy. | She has long hair. |
| On ma krótkie ciemne włosy. | He has short dark hair. |
| Ma niebieskie oczy. | Has blue eyes. |
| Ma jasne włosy i zielone oczy. | Fair hair and green eyes. |
Wearing
nosi okulary — wears glasses; and the elegant pointing form w okularach — in glasses: pan w okularach, kobieta w czerwonym płaszczu (the woman in the red coat). Detective-novel Polish, daily-life useful.
Character
miły (kind), wesoły (cheerful), poważny (serious), nieśmiały (shy), zabawny (funny). Ask with Jaki on jest? / Jaka ona jest? — what are they like?
Który to Michał?
Which one is Michał?
Ten wysoki, w okularach. Ma ciemne włosy.
The tall one, in glasses. Dark hair.
A jaki jest?
And what's he like?
Bardzo wesoły. Za bardzo, czasami.
Very cheerful. Too much so, sometimes.
Common Mistakes
- jest długie włosy. Features go through mieć: ma długie włosy.
- Frozen adjectives. miły/miła/miłe track the person: ona jest miła.
- stary about someone present. starszy pan — the polite “older gentleman” — spares feelings.
What You Can Do Now
You can describe anyone's looks and personality, find a stranger in a crowd from a description, and answer jaki jest? with something better than "nice".