English: Parts of the Body

Level: A2. The parts of the body are among the most useful words you can learn: you need them to say what hurts, to follow instructions, and to describe people. Most are short, everyday words. This lesson groups them from head to foot and points out the few irregular plurals that catch learners out.

By the end of this page you can…

…name the main parts of the body, use the right plural (feet, teeth), pair them with ‘my’ and ‘your’, and link them to simple health phrases.

From head to foot

It helps to learn the words in groups, working down the body. Start at the top with the head, which holds the face.

• Head and face: head, hair, face, eye, ear, nose, mouth, lip, tooth, tongue, cheek, chin.
• Upper body: neck, shoulder, chest, back, arm, elbow, wrist, hand, finger, thumb.
• Lower body: stomach, hip, leg, knee, ankle, foot, toe.

Notice two small parts that learners often confuse: on your hand you have four fingers and one thumb; on your foot you have five toes. Fingers are not toes.

Singular and plural

Most body words add -s to make the plural, just like other nouns: one arm, two arms; one hand, two hands. But a few are irregular and you must learn them as pairs.

Body parts come in pairs or singles

Your body has one of some parts and two of others. This matters because it changes the number.

• One (singular): head, nose, mouth, neck, chest, back, stomach.
• Two (usually plural): eyes, ears, arms, hands, legs, feet, shoulders, knees.

So you say my nose is blocked (one) but my eyes are tired (two).

Using my, your, his, her with the body

In English we almost always use a possessive word — my, your, his, her, our, their — with a body part, not the. You wash your hands, you brush your teeth, she shakes her head.

Linking the body to health

You already met these in a doctor’s visit. The body words slot straight into the health phrases My … hurts and I have a sore …:

• My head hurts. / My feet hurt.
• I have a sore throat. / I have a sore back.
• My stomach aches.

A short conversation

Nurse: Where does it hurt? Patient: My right shoulder and my arm. Nurse: Can you raise your arm above your head? Patient: Not very far — it hurts when I lift it. Nurse: All right. And can you move your fingers? Patient: Yes, my fingers are fine. It’s just the shoulder.

Example sentences

Play each line and say it aloud, touching the part of your body as you name it.

Quick recap before you practise.

Usage notes

• hair is usually uncountable: say she has short hair, not short hairs. A single strand you pull off your coat is a hair, but the hair on your head is one mass.
• stomach, belly, tummy: stomach is the standard word; tummy is gentle and childish; belly is informal.
• toe vs finger: fingers are on the hand, toes are on the foot — never swap them.
• arm includes the hand? No: the arm is the whole limb, but the hand is named separately, as are the elbow and wrist. The same split applies to leg, knee, ankle and foot.

Practice

How to say it

A few body words trip up English learners — copy the audio, not the spelling.

• stomach sounds like “STUM-uk” — the ch is a k, and the first vowel is like “stum”.
• knee has a silent k: just “nee”.
• thumb has a silent b: “thum”, and starts with the soft th as in thin.
• tongue sounds like “tung” — the gue is just a hard g ending.

Quiz

Recap cheat-sheet

Next

• Previous lesson: English: At the Doctor
• Next lesson: English: Emotions & Feelings
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