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Today in conversation a girl told me:

tus rasgos, muy bonitos

I smiled, replied with some compliment, but I had no idea what did she found nice. And even later, after secretly looking this up on the heartless Google Translate, and a little bit warmer RAE, I wasn't sure what she was exactly talking about. It's not that you need exact pedantic translation in cases like this, but now it's scientific interest.

I just translated this into Russian and everything becomes more clear. But I still cannot imagine how to say the same in English. Also it would be nice to hear more about using this construction in Spanish.

Try to be poetical in your answers.

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Tú tienes unos rasgos muy bonitos is an expression to tell someone that his/her looks are pleasing. It's almost the same as telling a woman that she's beautiful or a man that he's handsome but without appearing too forward.

Rasgos físicos refer to someone's physical features such as height, eye/hair/skin color, etc, etc.

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    Usually it's refered to facial features
    – Laura
    Commented Mar 21, 2012 at 8:14
  • @Laura correct, when one mentions rasgos físicos usually starts listing facial features but not because it's exclusive to the face, but rather because facial features are more prominent. Height, weight, etc. are also rasgos físicos.
    – Icarus
    Commented Mar 21, 2012 at 13:59
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She was telling you're a handsome man, in a nice way. Talking about your face.

Some quick responses: If you want to reply with something nice too, you may use:

Me pareces una chica muy guapa

It means:

I think you're a pretty girl

If the girl has pretty eyes, you may continue with:

Y tienes unos ojos preciosos

that means:

And you have really beautiful/lovely eyes

I hope it helps you. Good luck.

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    +1 because of the flirting lesson ;)
    – Javi
    Commented Mar 21, 2012 at 10:19
  • +1 for being poetical)
    – Igor Milla
    Commented Mar 21, 2012 at 11:10
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    To add my 2 cets to this: Using "Guapa" insted of "Bonita" is a good choice, because those may seem synonyms but in fact "Bonita" is focused completly on the looks while "Guapa" not only describes physical features but also attitude and style.
    – Chepech
    Commented Mar 23, 2012 at 18:42
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    Thanks guys. And about the "guapa" vs "bonita" issue, there's another reason: Using "bonita" is kinda of "old-fashion". If you're a young man, you'll rarely use "bonita" talking to a girl. That may sound "corny" to her. IMHO.
    – Jorge Arévalo
    Commented Apr 7, 2012 at 16:17

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