Learn the body parts in French

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Vocabulary about body parts in French

When you start to learn a new language, in this case French, learning the body parts, it’s important as those words are often used in daily conversations, and in different situations such as if you break your arm for example, and you need to go to the hospital.

In this lesson, you can learn the most common body parts in French, with an example sentence for each and an audio file to listen to the pronunciation.

The list covers vocabulary from head to toe.

French	How to pronounce it	English
le corps		the body
Tu as le corps musclé.		You have a muscular body.
la tête		the head
Il a été blessé à la tête.		He was injured in the head.
les cheveux		the hair
J’ai les cheveux bruns.		I have brown hair.
le visage		the face
J’ai le visage rouge.		I have a red face.
le front		the forehead
J’ai des boutons sur le front.		I have pimples on my forehead.
le sourcil/les sourcils		the eyebrow/eyebrows
Elle s’est fait épiler les sourcils.		She had her eyebrows plucked.
les cils		the eyelashes
Elle a de longs cils.		She has long eyelashes.
le nez		the nose
Il a un gros nez.		He has a big nose.
les narines		the nostrils
J’ai les narines bouchées.		My nostrils are clogged.
la joue		the cheek
Arrête de me pincer la joue.		Stop pinching my cheek.
les fossettes		the dimples
J’adore les fossettes chez les femmes.		I love women with dimples.
la bouche		the mouth
Ferme la bouche.		Close your mouth.
la lèvre/les lèvres		the lip/lips
J’ai la lèvre enflée.		My lip is swollen.
la langue		the tongue
Ne tire pas la langue.		Don’t stick out your tongue.
la dent/les dents		the tooth/the teeth
Il a les dents blanches.		He has white teeth.
le menton		the chin
J’ai un bouton sur le menton.		I have a pimple on my chin.
la mâchoire		the jaw
J’ai mal à la mâchoire.		My jaw hurts.
l’oreille/les oreilles		the ear/the ears
La maîtresse m’a tiré les oreilles.		The teacher pulled my ears.
l’oeil/les yeux		the eye/eyes
J’ai les yeux bleus.		I have blue eyes.
le cou		the neck
Le cou de cette femme est long.		This woman’s neck is long.
l’épaule/les épaules		the shoulder/shoulders
Je me suis fait mal à l’épaule.		I hurt my shoulder.
le bras/les bras		the arm/arms
Il a les bras musclés.		He has muscular arms.
le poignet		the wrist
Je me suis cassé le poignet.		I broke my wrist.
la main		the hand
Tiens-moi la main.		Hold my hand.
la paume		the palm
J’ai une verrue sur la paume de ma main.		I have a wart on the palm of my hand.
le doigt/les doigts		the finger/fingers
Mon chien m’a mordu les doigts.		My dog bit my fingers.
le pouce		the thumb
J’ai le pouce engourdi.		My thumb is numb.
l’ongle/les ongles		the nail/nails
J’ai les ongles longs.		I have long nails.
le coude		the elbow
J’ai de l’eczema sur le coude.		I have eczema on my elbow.
le torse		the chest (for male)
Je me fais épiler le torse.		I’m getting my chest waxed.
la poitrine		the chest (for female)
J’ai une douleur à la poitrine.		I have chest pain.
le sein/les seins		the breast/breasts
Les seins sont une zone érogène.		The breasts are an erogenous zone.
le téton/les tétons		the nipple/nipples
Je me suis fait percer les tétons.		I got my nipples pierced.
la côte/les côtes		the rib/ribs
Il a les côtes cassées.		He has broken ribs.
le ventre		the belly
J’ai le ventre gonflé.		My belly is swollen.
le nombril		the navel
Le nombril est une chose bizarre.		The navel is a weird thing.
le dos		the back
J’ai un coup de soleil sur le dos.		I have a sunburn on my back.
la jambe		the leg
J’ai mal à la jambe gauche.		My left leg hurts.
la cuisse/les cuisses		the thigh/thighs
J’ai les cuisses engourdies.		My thighs are numb.
le genou		the knee
J’ai le genou enflé.		My knee is swollen.
le mollet		the calf
Mon chien m’a mordu le mollet gauche.		My dog bit my left calf.
la cheville		the ankle
Je me suis tordu la cheville.		I twisted my ankle.
le talon		the heel
J’ai le talon tout noir.		I have a black heel.
le pied/les pieds		the foot/feet
Elle a une ampoule sur le pied droit.		She has a blister on her right foot.
l’orteil/les orteils /les doigts de pieds		the toe/toes
Je me suis tordu le gros orteil.		I twisted my big toe.
la peau		the skin
Elle a la peau bronzée.		She has tanned skin.
les poils		the hairs
Je me rase les poils des jambes.		I shave off my leg hair.

Note :

Undefinite article :

“un” is like “a” in English, and “une” is the feminine of “un”.

For example: un doigt (a finger), une main (a hand).

How to know the genre of each word? Well, it will come by practice, until you remember naturally.

Definite article:

“le” is “the”, and “la” is the feminine of “le”.

For example: le genou (the knee), la bouche (the mouth).

“les” is the plural.

For example: les dents (the teeth)

“des” is “some”.

For example: des cheveux (some hairs), which differs from les cheveux (the hairs)

When you start to learn French, you will most likely be wrong with the gender of the words when talking to people, but it’s not a big deal, French native speakers will not laugh about you, they will understand anyways, and in some case, some will correct you. If you say “le main” instead of “la main”, we still get it.

Never be afraid to talk, it is how you will learn to speak any language, we all make mistakes, but practice makes perfect or almost!

body parts french body part french