Describing someone’s physical and personal characteristics in Indonesian Posted by asimonoff on Feb 17, 2018 in Uncategorized
Let’s learn how to describe and explain about someone’s physical and personal characteristics
| Describing people | |||
| Ciri-ciri fisik/ciri-ciri tubuh | Physical characteristics | to use in a conversation | |
| characteristics | characteristics | ||
| Rambutnya seperti apa? | What is the hair like? | ||
| berambut panjang | to have short hair | Teman saya berambut panjang. | My friend has long hair. |
| berambut pendek | to have short hair | Ibu saya berambut pendek. | My mother has short hair. |
| berambut hitam | to have black hair | Saya berambut hitam. | I have black hair. |
| berambut pirang | to have blond hair | Ayah saya beramput pirang | My father has blond hair. |
| berambut putih | to have white hair | Nenek saya beramput putih. | My grandmother has white hair. |
| berambut coklat | to have brown hair | Anak saya berambut coklat. | My child has brown hair. |
| berambut keriting | to have curly hair | Kakak laki-laki saya berambut keriting. | My brother has curly hair. |
| berambut ikal | to have wavy hair | Saya dan kakak perempuan saya berambut ikal. | My sister and I have wavy hair. |
| berambut lurus | to have straight hair | ||
| berjanggut | to have beard | Ayah saya berjanggut | My father is bearded. |
| berkumis | to have moustace | Kakak laki-laki saya berkumis. | My brother has moustache. |
| Apa warna mata dia? Apa warna matanya? | What is the color of her/his eyes? | ||
| bermata biru | to have blue eyes | Dia bermata biru | S/he has blue eyes. |
| bermata hijau | to have green eyes | Dia bermata hijau | S/he has green eyes. |
| bermata coklat | to have brown eyes | Gadis cantik itu bermata coklat. | That beautiful girl has brown eyes. |
| Bagamana ciri-ciri badan dia? Bagaiaman ciri-ciri badadannya? | What is her/his physical characteristics? | ||
| berbadan kurus | to have skinny body (skinny) | Laki-laki itu berbadan kurus. | That man is thin. |
| berbadan gemuk | to have fat body (fat) | Dia orangnya gemuk – s/he fat | S/he is fat. |
| berbadan langsing | to have slim body (slim) | Ibu saya berbadan langsing. | My mom has slim body. |
| berbadan ramping | to have slender body (slender) | Perempuan itu berbadan ramping. | That woman is slender. |
| berbadan montok | to have plump body | She has plump body. | Dia berbadan montok |
| badannya berotot | the body has muscles | Saya suka melihat orang yang badannya berotot. | |
| berbadan tegap | well-built body |
| Skin complexion | warna kulit |
| berkulit putih | to have white skin |
| berkulit hitam | to have black skin |
| berkulit kuning langsat | to have yellow skin |
| berkulit sawo matang | to have brown skin |
Note: Indonesian used fruit skin color to describe someone skin complexion, such as sawo matang (lit translation ripe sawo fruit skin color, or yellow langsat fruit skin color)
| Bagaimana ciri-ciri tubuhnya? | How are her/his physical characteristics? |
| Dia tinggi, berambut pirang dan ikal. | S/he is tall and has curly blond hair. |
| Dia kurus dan berkulit sawo matang, | S/he skinny and has brown complexion. |
| Apa lagi? | What else? |
| Dia juga bermata hitam | S/he has black eyes. |
| Ciri-ciri personal | Personal Characteristics |
| Dia orangnya bagaimana? | How is s/he like? |
| Dia orangnya ramah. | S/he is a friendly person. |
| Dia orangnya pemalu. | S/he is a shy person. |
| Dia orangnya pemarah. | S/he is a hot headed person. |
| Dia orangnya berwawasan | S/he is an insightful person. |
| Dia orangnya mudah tersinggung. | S/he takes offense easily. |
| Dia orangnya pemurung. | S/he is a morose person. |
| Perempuan itu orangnya judes | That woman is a rude and unfriendly person. |
| Teman Anda orangnya seperti apa? | How is your friend like? |
| Teman saya itu pendiam. | My friend is a quiet person |
| Adik peremuan saya itu orangnya ceria. | My sister is a cheerful person. |
| Teman saya itu orangnya mudah bergaul. | My friend is easy to get along with |
| Dialogue at a reunion | ||
| Bambang: | Apa kabar, Mar? Selamat ya atas kelahiran anak kedua. | How are you, Mar? Congratulations on the birth of your second child. |
| Marni: | Terima kasih, Mbang. Isteri bagaimana? Apa masih bekerja di marketing? | Thank you, Mbang. How is your Wife? Is she still working in marketing? |
| Bambang: | Baik, isteri saya memutuskan bekerja dari rumah menjadi konsultan. | Well, my wife decided to work from home to become a consultant. |
| Marni: | Wah, enak ya. Ngomong-ngomong, waktu saya di rumah sakit. Dokter saya itu teman SMA kita Lukman. | Wow, it is very nice. By the way, when I was in the hospital. My doctor was our high school friend, Lukman. |
| Bambang: | Lukman? Saya lupa, yang mana ya? | Lukman? I forgot, which one is it? |
| Marni: | Dulu dia di kelas IPA 3. Orangnya tinggi dan berambut ikal. | He used to be in science class 3. He is tall and has curly hair. |
| Bambang: | Sebentar ya saya coba ingat-ingat. Kamu tadi bilang namanya Lukman? | Wait a moment I try to remember. Did you say that is his name is Lukman? |
| Marni: | Betul. Ibunya itu guru fisika kita. | That’s correct. His mother was our physics teacher. |
| Bambang: | Oh, itu. Lukman itu yang pandai bermain gitar dan dia orangnya pendiam ya? | Oh, that. Lukman was the one who was good at playing guitar and he was a quiet person, right? |
| Marni: | Betul, kamu akhirnya ingat. | Yes, you finally remember. |
| Bambang: | Iya saya ingat dia. Suara dia bagus sekali ya. | Yeah I remember him. He had a great voice. |
| Marni: | Iya. Dia masuk universitas kedokteran di Bandung segera setelah lulus SMA | Yes. He entered medical university in Bandung soon after graduating from high school |
| Bambang: | Saya ingat dia sekarang. Dia orangnya pandai dan baik hati. Dia mengajar teman-teman kita fisika dan matematika. | I remember about him now. He’s smart and kind. He taught our friends physics and mathematics. |
| Marni: | Dia dulu mengajar saya materimatika dan fisika oleh karena itu nilai-nilai saya membaik di tahun kedua. | He used to teach me mathematics and physics therefore my grades improved in my second year. |
| Bambang: | Tentu saja saya ingat. Kalau bertemu dengan dia lagi, salam dari saya ya. | Of course I remember. If you meet up with him again, please send him my regards. |
| Marni: | Pasti akan saya sampaikan. | I will certainly do. |
Let’s practice
1. Apa Anda bisa menggambarkan ciri-ciri fisik teman-teman Anda? 1. Can you describe the physical characteristics of your friends?
2. Dapatkah Anda menggambarkan ciri-ciri personal anggota keluarga Anda? 2. Can you describe your family members personal characteristics.
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About the Author: asimonoff
I’m an Indonesian language instructor, instructional material developer, reading test developer, and interpreter. I have been teaching Indonesian to adult students for 15 years, and have been teaching students from many backgrounds, such as private, military and diplomatic service employees. I’m Indonesian, but am living in the US now; my exposure to different cultures in my home country and in the US has enriched my knowledge in teaching Indonesian as a second language. I approach the teaching of the Indonesian language by developing students’ critical cultural awareness and competence. This method of teaching has been proven to be a key to the success of my students. Students become conscious of the essential role culture plays in the language.