Today we are going to talk about personality in English! How can you talk about people’s traits in English? I will show you some important questions and words we use to describe people’s qualities and traits and how to use them.

hey friends! get ready, because this post is awesome! 🙂

 

QUESTION: How do you ask someone to describe his/her personality?

Many students don’t think about this question. I’ve noticed that with several students of mine. Take a look at this question below:

Can you describe your personality?

Does this question work? Yes, it does! However, it is not a very common question. My favorite one, which is very frequently used is:

What are you like?

Really, “like”?? what do you mean, Prix? Yes! In this case, “like” is not a verb! It is a preposition!  (like: similar to someone, or something)

When someone asks you: “what are you like”, you should start talking about your personality!

How do you answer this question?

There is a very easy way to answer this question. You will need verb to be (am/is/are) plus adjectives! If you would like to read a post about verb to be, here on my blog, check this link: http://www.teacherprix.com/grammar-easy-learn-verb/

I am + adjectives (qualities)

You can use the question to ask about other people:

What IS Lucy like?

She is + adjectives

What is Peter like?

He is + adjectives

Teacher, what if someone asks me “can you describe your personality?” How do I answer this question?

If someone asks you this question, the answer is the same:

I am + adjective

Can you describe Lucy’s personality? (‘s = possessive + apostrophe)

She is + adjective

Can you describe Peter’s personality? (‘s = possessive + apostrophe)

He is + adjective

 

Great! Now that you know two different ways to ask someone about his/her personality, the second thing you need to know is adjectives!

ADJECTIVES

Without adjectives, it is difficult to talk about personality. This is a very common problem students have. That’s why I always tell my students to study “situations” and not just random words.

Priscila, what is to study “random words”? When you study random words, they are not specific. You don’t know exactly “when” you can use them, with “whom” you can use these words you are learning. For example, you can dedicate some time to study adjectives. There is a huge list of different adjectives. Now, how do you know which adjectives to study? BY defining the “situation”. In this post, for example, we are learning to talk about personality. It is easier to learn new adjectives this way.

If you learn adjectives for this specific situation, you know you can talk about many people you know and like. You can describe your mother’s and your father’s personality, your best friend ’s or even your own!

 

ADJECTIVES TO DESCRIBE PERSONALITY

Here you can find a simple chart with adjectives and their definitions as well as opposite words. I encourage you to study them as well as listen to their pronunciation. There are great dictionaries online to help you with that.

 

I have a question for you: What are you like?

Leave your answer in the comments!

 

Prix