When learning Japanese, describing someone’s appearance is an essential skill. Whether you are talking about a friend, a celebrity, or yourself, one of the most useful sentence structures is:

[Body Part] が ～ です

This structure helps you describe different physical features clearly and naturally. In this blog post, we will break it down with examples so you can start using it right away!

Basic Sentence Structure

The pattern is simple:

[Body Part] が + Adjective/Description です

• 彼かれは目めが大おおきいです。
  (Kare wa me ga ookii desu.)
  → He has big eyes.
• 彼女かのじょは髪かみが長ながいです。
  (Kanojo wa kami ga nagai desu.)
  → She has long hair.

In this structure, [body part] が marks the subject of the sentence, and the adjective describes it.

Common Body Parts and Adjectives

Here are some useful vocabulary words to help you describe someone’s appearance:

Body Parts

• 頭 (あたま) – Head
• 顔 (かお) – Face
• 目 (め) – Eyes
• 鼻 (はな) – Nose
• 口 (くち) – Mouth
• 歯 (は) – Teeth
• 耳 (みみ) – Ears
• 髪 (かみ) – Hair
• 手 (て) – Hands
• 足 (あし) – Legs/Feet

Common Adjectives

• 大きい (おおきい) – Big
• 小さい (ちいさい) – Small
• 長い (ながい) – Long
• 短い (みじかい) – Short (length)
• 背が高い (せがたかい) – Tall
• 背が低い (せがひくい) – Short (stature)
• 広い (ひろい) – Wide
• 狭い (せまい) – Narrow
• 白い (しろい) – White
• 黒い (くろい) – Black

Example Sentences

Let’s look at more examples:

• 彼女かのじょは髪かみがふわふわです。
  (Kanojo wa kami ga fuwafuwa desu.)
  → She has fluffy hair.
• 僕ぼくは歯はが白しろいです。
  (Boku wa ha ga shiroi desu.)
  → I have white teeth.
• 友達ともだちは耳みみが大おおきいです。
  (Tomodachi wa mimi ga ookii desu.)
  → My friend has big ears.
• 彼かれは背せが高たかいです。
  (Kare wa se ga takai desu.)
  → He is tall.

Making Negative and Past Tense Sentences

You can modify the sentences by using the negative or past tense of です.

Negative Sentences

• 彼女かのじょの髪かみは長ながくないです。
  (Kanojo no kami wa nagakunai desu.)
  → Her hair is not long.
• 彼かれの足あしは短みじかくないです。
  (Kare no ashi wa mijikakunai desu.)
  → His legs are not short.

Past Tense Sentences

• 子供こどもの時とき、目めが小ちいさかったです。
  (Kodomo no toki, me ga chiisakatta desu.)
  → When I was a child, my eyes were small.
• 彼かれの髪かみは黒くろかったです。
  (Kare no kami wa kurokatta desu.)
  → His hair was black.

Practice Time!

Try making sentences using [Body Part] が ～ です to describe yourself or someone you know. You can also practice by looking at pictures of people and describing their features in Japanese.

Here’s a challenge for you:

1. How would you say, “My friend has short hair” in Japanese?
2. How do you describe someone with small hands?

Leave your answers in the comments below!

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