What is someone like?
To ask about someone's character, use ser: ¿Cómo es tu mejor amigo? (What is your best friend like?) The answer also uses ser: Es muy sociable. (He is very sociable.) The word for character is el carácter – with the stress and the accent on the second a: Mi abuela tiene muy buen carácter. (My grandmother is very good-natured.)
You already know some words from A1: simpático (nice, friendly), antipático (unfriendly, unpleasant), sociable (sociable), tímido (shy), serio (serious), trabajador (hard-working) and optimista (optimistic). Now some new ones are added.
Pleasant traits
amable (kind, helpful) describes someone who is nice to others: Mi vecino es muy amable: siempre ayuda a los demás. (My neighbour is very kind: he always helps other people.) generoso (generous) is someone who likes to share and give. divertido (fun, funny) is someone you laugh a lot with.
paciente (patient) is someone who can wait and explain calmly. tranquilo (calm, easy-going) is someone who doesn't get upset easily: Mi padre es una persona muy tranquila. (My father is a very calm person.)
sincero and honesto both mean "honest", with a small difference: sincero (sincere, frank) is someone who openly says what they think – even if it is unpleasant. honesto is someone who doesn't lie, cheat or take what isn't theirs. Mi amiga es muy sincera: siempre me dice la verdad. (My friend is very honest: she always tells me the truth.)
Less pleasant traits – and their opposites
Many character words are best learned in pairs. In paciente – impaciente (impatient), the prefix im- shows the opposite, just like in English.
The other opposites are separate words: generoso – egoísta (selfish), trabajador – perezoso (lazy), optimista – pesimista (pessimistic), tranquilo – nervioso (nervous), simpático – antipático, sociable – tímido and divertido – serio.
Careful with serio and tímido: these are not bad traits. A serious or shy person can still be very nice: Ana es tímida, pero muy amable. (Ana is shy, but very kind.)
The right ending
Like all adjectives, character words agree with the person. Words ending in -o have a femininefeminineA noun's gender that typically takes la or una in Spanish. form in -a: Pablo es generoso. – Lucía es generosa.
Words ending in -e and -ista stay the same: Mi hermano es muy paciente. – Mi hermana es muy paciente. The same goes for amable, sociable, egoísta, optimista and pesimista. There is no form "optimisto": Carlos es optimista. (Carlos is optimistic.)
Words ending in -or add an -a in the femininefeminineA noun's gender that typically takes la or una in Spanish.: Mi padre es trabajador. – Mi madre es trabajadora.
In the pluralpluralThe grammatical form used for more than one person or thing., add -s after a vowelvowelA sound like a, e, i, o, or u, and the letter used to write it. and -es after a consonantconsonantA sound other than a, e, i, o, or u, and the letter used to write it.: Mis amigos son muy divertidos. – Mis compañeras son amables. – Mis padres son trabajadores.
muy, bastante, un poco – and pero
With muy (very), bastante (quite) and un poco (a bit) you say more precisely how strong a trait is. They go directly before the adjective and never change: Soy bastante tranquila. (I am quite calm.)
You use un poco almost only with negative traits – it softens the criticism: Mi jefe es un poco impaciente. (My boss is a bit impatient.) With positive traits it sounds odd. Instead of "un poco simpático", say bastante simpático.
With pero (but) you contrast two traits. This also makes criticism sound friendly: Mi compañero de trabajo es muy simpático, pero un poco perezoso. (My colleague is very nice, but a bit lazy.)
¿Cómo es? or ¿Cómo está?
You know the difference from A1: ¿Cómo es? asks about someone's character, ¿Cómo está? about how they are right now. With tranquilo and nervioso this is especially important: Mi hermano es nervioso. (My brother is a nervous person.) – Mi hermano está nervioso porque mañana tiene un examen. (My brother is nervous because he has an exam tomorrow.)
When people talk about themselves, you often hear me pongo nervioso (I get nervous) – just learn it as a fixed phrase: Soy bastante tranquilo, pero a veces me pongo nervioso. (I am quite calm, but sometimes I get nervous.)
Examples
- ¿Cómo es tu mejor amigo? – What is your best friend like?
- Mi hermano es muy sociable. – My brother is very sociable.
- Ana es tímida, pero muy amable. – Ana is shy, but very kind.
- Mi abuela comparte todo con sus vecinos. Es muy generosa. – My grandmother shares everything with her neighbours. She is very generous.
- Mi jefa es bastante seria, pero muy paciente. – My boss is quite serious, but very patient.
- Mis amigos son divertidos, pero un poco impacientes. – My friends are fun, but a bit impatient.
- Soy bastante tranquilo, pero a veces me pongo nervioso. – I am quite calm, but sometimes I get nervous.