Personality in Terms of Personal Traits and Character

Konu Anlatımı

Character and Personality: Two Ideas

Character is what a person does; personality is what a person is like inside. Character is easier to observe, because it appears in actions and habits. A person who never breaks a promise shows reliable character, and a person who always helps at home shows strong character. Personality is deeper: it is the set of qualities that shapes how a person thinks and feels. In everyday English the two words are often used as if they were synonyms, so we say that someone has a strong or a weak character and that someone has a warm or a cold personality.

Personality adjectives are among the most useful words for 9th grade English. They let you describe a classmate in one sentence instead of five, and they let you justify an opinion in an exam. A complete description always has three parts: who the person is, which trait you want to name, and what the person does because of that trait. The third part makes the answer real and easy to believe.

Positive and Negative Personality Traits

Most personality adjectives come in pairs: one positive and one negative. They are built from the same root, and the negative form often takes the prefix dis-, the prefix im- or the prefix un-. Learn them together and you learn two words in the same minute.

Some traits have no negative partner in everyday use. A curious person, for example, is simply described as curious, and we do not normally say that someone is the opposite of curious. When a pair does not exist, do not invent one; choose a different word that carries a similar idea. It is also worth remembering that some adjectives such as brave, honest and lazy are usually used for people and almost never for objects, while others such as tall or noisy can describe both people and things.

Personality With Used To

Used to describes a habit or a state in the past that is no longer true. Its form is simple and it never changes: subject + used to + plain form of the verb. The negative is did not use to and the question is did + subject + use to. The main meaning of used to is that the situation has ended: I used to be shy, but now I am not. It can also describe something that was normal in the past but is unusual today: our grandparents used to walk to school every day.

Be careful with two very different structures. Used to followed by a verb describes the past habit of the same subject, so she used to play the piano. Be used to followed by a noun or by the -ing form of a verb describes something a person is accustomed to now, so I am used to getting up early. The second form describes the present, and it never means the same thing as the first one. In a test, read the word before used to: if you find a form of the verb be, the sentence is about the present.

Used to is especially useful when a text describes a person who has changed. In that case the structure carries the whole message, because the past form and the present form stand next to each other: He used to be quiet, but now he is quite talkative. A careful reader immediately sees the beginning, the change and the present state of the character.

Relative Clauses That Describe People

A relative clause adds information about a noun, and after a person it usually begins with who or that. The clause becomes an object of the main verb, so it can come in two positions: after the noun, as in the girl who has got long hair, or after the whole main sentence, as in The girl who has got long hair is my sister. Both positions are correct.

• who is used for people: my uncle, who lives in a small town, visits us twice a month.
• which is used for things and ideas: the film, which was very long, was still exciting.
• that is used for both people and things: the book that I bought yesterday is excellent.
• whose is used for possession: a child whose parents are teachers needs extra attention.
• where is used for places: this is the school where I first met my best friend.

Defining and non-defining clauses are different. A defining clause gives the information we need in order to know which person we mean, and it is written without commas: the students who study hard get good marks. A non-defining clause gives extra information, and a comma is used on both sides: my students, who study hard, get good marks. Examiners check this comma rule very carefully, because it is the easiest detail to forget.

Relative clauses are extremely useful when you describe character, because they let you put an action next to a trait. Say He is the kind of person who never gives up, or She is a friend who listens to you carefully. In these sentences the relative clause explains the personality adjective without repeating it, and the result sounds natural and confident.

Character in Texts and in Daily Life

Character is described in daily life with actions, not with labels alone. If you say that someone is helpful, you should add the action: She is helpful; she always shares her notes with the class. In reading texts, look for three signs of character: what the person chooses, how the person speaks and how the person reacts under pressure. Choices are the strongest of these three, because a character is judged by what he or she does when nobody is watching.

Personality can also change, and the best texts show this change clearly. A shy girl who learns to speak in front of a crowd, or an impatient boy who becomes a patient father, gives the reader a line to follow. When you answer a reading question about character, mention the beginning, the change and the reason for the change, and then decide whether the change is positive or negative.

Finally, remember that character words are not the same as mood words. A film is frightening and the person who feels fear is frightened. The same -ed and -ing rule that you use with bored and boring applies to every emotion: interested and interesting, surprised and surprising, excited and exciting.

Sample Question and Solution

Question: Read the short biography and answer. Deniz was a very quiet boy at primary school. He never raised his hand, and he ate his lunch alone in the corner of the yard. At secondary school his English teacher asked him to read a short text aloud in front of the class. He was afraid, but he stood up. Today he works as a radio presenter and he says that the day he first spoke in public was the turning point of his life.

Solution: Step one: find the trait at the beginning. Never raising his hand and eating alone both show that he was shy. Step two: find the moment of change. He stood up and read aloud even though he was afraid, and this is the turning point of the story. Step three: find the result. He now works in front of an audience, so his personality has changed from shy to confident. The full answer is that Deniz used to be shy, but he became a confident speaker because he once overcame his fear.

Common Mistakes

• Confusing used to and be used to: Used to with a verb talks about the past, but be used to with a noun or with the -ing form talks about the present.
• Adding -s to the verb after used to: Say she used to play and never say she used to plays.
• Forgetting the commas in a non-defining clause: Write my cousin, who is a doctor, lives abroad with a comma on both sides.
• Using which for people: After a person choose who or that, because which is used for things and ideas.
• Giving a trait without an action: A complete description of character adds what the person actually does.
• Using an -ed adjective for a thing: The film is scary and the viewer is scared; the -ing form always describes the cause.

Summary

Character is what a person does and personality is the set of qualities inside. Most personality adjectives come in opposite pairs such as generous and selfish. Used to describes a past habit or state that has ended, while be used to describes what a person accepts today. To describe people in longer sentences, add a relative clause with who, which, that, whose or where, and put commas around it when it gives only extra information.

Ne Öğreneceğiz

Personal traits and character: personality adjectives, used to for past habits and relative clauses that describe the character of people. Bu konuda ögrenme çıktıları:

• Explains the difference between character and personality with real examples.
• Uses positive and negative personality adjectives correctly after the verb be.
• Forms sentences with used to for past habits and states that have ended.
• Distinguishes used to from be used to and uses both without error.
• Builds relative clauses with who, which, that, whose and where.
• Describes the character of a person in a text and supports it with actions.

Ön Bilgi

Bu konuya başlamadan önce temel kavram ve ön koşulları kavramanız yardımcı olacaktır. Konunun çerçevesinde şu kavramlar dikkat ister:

• Used to and be used to are completely different: the first one describes a past habit that has ended, the second one describes a present situation.
• After used to the verb is always in its plain form, even when the subject is he or she: she used to play.
• The negative form is did not use to, and the question form starts with did and the words use to.
• For people we normally use who or that, for things we or that we use which or that, and whose shows possession.
• A defining relative clause gives necessary information and is written without commas; a non-defining clause gives extra information and needs two commas.
• Where is used for places, so we say the school where I studied and not the school which I studied.
• A description of character is complete only when a personality adjective is supported by an action.
• The -ed form describes the person who feels something, and the -ing form describes the thing that causes the feeling.

Basit Örnek ve Günlük Yaşam

Günlük yaşamda ve mesleki bağlamda bir uygulama:

Soru: Choose the correct form: I ___ (be used to / used to) getting up at six o'clock every morning.

1. Step 1: Decide which meaning the sentence needs; here the action still continues today.
2. Step 2: Remember that be used to describes what we accept in the present.
3. Step 3: Add the -ing form after be used to because getting up is the action.
4. Step 4: If the action had ended, we would write I used to get up at six.

Sonuç/cevap: I am used to getting up at six o'clock every morning.

İleri Örnek

Daha ileri bir uygulama:

Soru: Describe how a shy student changed, using used to and the present simple.

1. Step 1: Describe the past personality with used to and a plain verb.
2. Step 2: Describe the present personality with a present simple form.
3. Step 3: Join the two parts with but or however.
4. Step 4: Add one short reason for the change at the end of the text.

Sonuç/cevap: He used to be extremely shy, but now he is quite confident because he joined the debate club.

Adım Adım Çözülmüş Örnek

Example 1: Used To or Be Used To konusunun adımları:

1. Step 1: Decide which meaning the sentence needs; here the action still continues today.
2. Step 2: Remember that be used to describes what we accept in the present.
3. Step 3: Add the -ing form after be used to because getting up is the action.
4. Step 4: If the action had ended, we would write I used to get up at six.

Karşılaştırma Tablosu

Sık Yapılan Hatalar

Confusing used to and be used to: Used to with a verb talks about a habit that has ended, but be used to with a noun or with the -ing form talks about what we accept today.

Adding -s to the verb after used to: The verb form never changes with this structure, so write she used to play and never she used to plays.

Forgetting the commas in a non-defining clause: Extra information about a person is placed between two commas, as in my cousin, who is a doctor, lives abroad.

Using which for people: After a person choose who or that, because which is normally used for things and for ideas.

Giving a trait without an action: A complete answer about character adds what the person actually does, because a label alone is not proof.

Using an -ed adjective for a thing: The film is scary and the viewer is scared, because the -ing form always describes the cause of a feeling.

Confusing whose with who or which: Whose shows possession, such as the girl whose father is a doctor, and the other two words do not.

Özet

Character is what a person does and personality is the set of qualities inside. Most personality adjectives come in opposite pairs such as generous and selfish. Used to describes a past habit or state that has ended, while be used to describes what a person accepts today. To describe people in longer sentences, add a relative clause with who, which, that, whose or where, and put commas around it when it gives only extra information.

Kendini Dene

Soru: Write a short text of 90-120 words about a close friend of yours. Give at least five personality adjectives, explain one of them with a real example of behaviour, and finish with a sentence that shows why this person is special.

Örnek cevap: Marking key: the friend is introduced with be plus adjectives (5 points); at least five correct personality adjectives are used (5 points); one adjective is supported by a real example of behaviour (5 points); the final sentence gives a clear personal opinion (2 points); grammar, spelling and punctuation (3 points). Total 20 points.