Tengo el pelo y los ojos castaños
/tenɡo el pelo i los oxos kastaɲos/from spelling rules
The English phrase "I have brown hair and eyes" is translated into Spanish as Tengo el pelo y los ojos castaños.
While castaño is the standard adjective for hair and eyes, you can also use café to describe brown eyes, though castaños is more common for a general description of features.
What does it mean word for word?
Literally, the phrase translates to "I have the hair and the eyes brown" because Spanish uses definite articles (el/los) when describing body parts.
How does it change in a sentence?
The adjective castaños is in the masculine plural form to agree with both pelo (hair) and ojos (eyes).
Did you know?
- While castaños is used for brown hair, the word literally means 'chestnut' in Spanish.
- In some contexts, moreno is used not just for hair color but to describe a person's overall skin tone or ethnic appearance.
- The Spanish word pelo shares a common ancestor with the English word 'pile', which refers to fine, short hair on animals.
Example conversation
Mateo and Elena are discussing their family features.
- MateoMira esta foto de mi abuelo.Look at this photo of my grandfather.
- ElenaSe parece a ti, Mateo.He looks like you, Mateo.
- MateoEs verdad, yo tengo el pelo y los ojos castaños.It's true, I have brown hair and eyes.
- ElenaTú y él son idénticos.You and he are identical.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries el, los, pelo, y, CC BY-SA 4.0.
