Knowing how to describe yourself is an important skill from a relational and professional point of view. You may want to meet or date someone, get to know a friend better, or introduce yourself in a professional setting. The general rules on personal description in French are similar to the Italian ones, but there are slight distinctions that are best to be aware of. Using these guidelines you will have a basic structure that you can expand to provide a more detailed and personalized personal description.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Describe the Physical Characteristics
Step 1. Introduce yourself
The most conventional way of introducing yourself in French begins with "Je m'appelle" (pronounced: j m'appel) which means "My name is". For example, you could say: "Je m'appelle Roberto".
- The French equivalent of the name is: "prenom" (note the difference with Italian). You could also say: "Mon prénom est …" (mon prenom e) which means "My name is …"
- The French equivalent of surname is: "nom" (note the difference with Italian even better). In a professional or business context, if you are asked for your "first name" be sure to give your surname and not your first name.
Step 2. Tell the age
In French, as in Italian, age is indicated with the auxiliary verb "avoir", equivalent of "to have". You will say "J'ai … ans" (je … on) which means "I am … years old".
- Consult a dictionary to find the specific pronunciation of individual numbers.
- You can also indicate a generic age by using "je suis" (j sui) followed by an adjective. "Jeune" (jeun, not to be confused with jaune [jon] meaning yellow) means young; while "âgé" indicates an elderly person. "Je suis jeune" means "I am young".
Step 3. Describe the color of your hair
Most of the French lexicon is of Latin origin and very similar to the Italian correspondent; which also applies to the adjectives necessary for descriptions. "Brunette" and "blonde" mean "brunette" and "blonde" respectively, while "brun" and "blond" are their masculine equivalents; in both cases the final consonants are almost not pronounced (although they influence the pronunciation of the previous ones). "Je suis blonde" means "I'm blonde".
- You can also say "I have hair …" followed by the color. The phrase used in this case is "Mes cheveux sont…" (me scvé son). Consult a dictionary for other colors.
- The same type of construction also works for the eye color. You will have to say: "Mes yeux sont …" (mez-yeu son) which means "I have eyes …". Note that in this case the s is pronounced at the end of "mes" (which becomes a sweet z) because the next word starts with a vowel, giving rise to the so-called "liaison".
Step 4. Describe your overall physical appearance
The words to express beauty are "beau" (bo) for the masculine and "belle" (bel) for the feminine. Use "Je suis" followed by the adjective. "Je suis belle" means "I am beautiful".
- "Fort" (for) means "strong", while "faible" (febl) means "weak".
- "Petit" (pti) for the masculine and "petite" (ptit) for the feminine mean "small" and short in stature, or "small" and short depending on the gender.
- "Grand" (gran) for men and "grande" (grand) for women mean "great" and tall in stature.
Step 5. Express your moods
The same phrase "je suis" followed by another adjective can express happiness, sadness or other types of feelings. Consult a dictionary to find the exact adjective you need.
- "Content" (contan) means "happy", while "triste" (trist) means "sad". You will have to say "je suis triste" to say that you are sad.
- "Fatigué" (fatighé) means tired. You will say "je suis fatigué" when you are tired.
Part 2 of 2: Describe the Activities
Step 1. Describe your occupation
The phrase "je suis", followed by the appropriate word, is also used once again to indicate the profession. Note that the final part of adjectives and nouns (as in Italian) often varies according to gender. A dictionary can help you identify the correct suffix.
- Male professions ending in "eur" almost always change to female "euse" (euz). For example, a massage therapist could be both a "masseur" and a "masseuse".
- Masculine occupations ending in "ier" (ie) often add another "e" in addition to an accent on the previous one, becoming "ière" (ier) in the feminine. A person who works in the fields could be both a "fermier" and a "fermière".
- Adjectives ending in a consonant in masculine can add an "e" to become feminine. For example, a student is an "étudiant" (etüdian) while a student will be an "étudiante" (etüdiant). Note that the final t is only pronounced in the feminine.
- Many professions have only one form, regardless of gender, as "professeur" which also applies to female professors.
Step 2. Share your passions and interests
The phrase used to describe a preference for a certain type of activity begins with a verb conjugated in the first person followed by another in the infinitive, a bit like in the Italian construction used to love and adore (I love to walk, I love to swim). Verbs are mainly composed of a single word and end in –er, -ir and –re. Dictionaries indicate them indefinitely.
- "I like" is said "j'aime" (jem). "Adoro" is instead "j'adore" (jador). "J'aime lire" (jem lir) means "I like to read".
- The particles "ne" and "pas" before and after the verb express the negation of the sentence. "I don't like" is said "je n'aime pas" (j nem pa). "Je n'aime pas chanter" (j nem pa scianté) means "I don't like to sing".
Step 3. Describe the things you like
As in Italian, the definite article is used to express appreciation in French: "J'aime les chats" (jem le scia) means "I like cats".
- "Mon" and "ma" are used as possessive pronouns, to mean that you like something that belongs to you. "Mes" (me) is the only form of the possessive plural.
- "Mon" is used when the noun is masculine, indicated in the dictionary by the letter "m". "J'aime mon chat" means "I like my cat". Note that many French and Italian words have the gender reversed, the masculine ones in one language are feminine in the other and vice versa; check the vocabulary or ask a native speaker.
- "Ma" is used when the noun is feminine, indicated in the dictionary by the letter "f". "J'aime ma tanto" (jem ma tant) means "I like my aunt".
- "Mes" is used with nouns in the plural, in cases like "my aunts" or "my cats". In these cases we say "j'aime mes tantes" and "j'aime mes chats".
Step 4. Use adjectives
"Je suis" followed by an adjective can also indicate your general interests. Note that the suffix must change depending on the gender of the subject. Dictionaries usually indicate both forms of the adjective. "Je suis sportif" in the masculine and "je suis sportive" (sportiv) in the feminine both indicate a person who enjoys physical activity.
- If it sounds too complicated, it may be easier to follow the directions given above about interests and hobbies, simply saying "I like sport" or "j'aime le sport" (spor).
- This construction also works to describe personality traits. For example, "gentil" (jantil) and "gentille" (jantii) mean "nice", "kind". You will say "je suis gentil" if you are a man and "je suis gentille" if you are a woman.
