Learning the parts of the body in French is an important step for beginners.

You’ll need this vocabulary when talking about your appearance, describing how you feel, going to the doctor, talking about sports, getting ready in the morning — or simply having everyday conversations.

In this French lesson, you’ll learn the most important body parts in French, along with pronunciation tips, useful expressions and practical sentences you can actually use.

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🧍 Parts of the Body in French

Let’s start with the essential vocabulary.

English	French
the head	la tête
the face	le visage
the hair	les cheveux
the eyes	les yeux
the eyebrows	les sourcils
the eyelids	les paupières
the ears	les oreilles
the nose	le nez
the cheeks	les joues
the mouth	la bouche
the lips	les lèvres
the teeth	les dents
the chin	le menton
the neck	le cou
the shoulders	les épaules
the chest	la poitrine
the back	le dos
the stomach	le ventre
the hips	les hanches
the arms	les bras
the elbows	les coudes
the wrists	les poignets
the hands	les mains
the legs	les jambes
the knees	les genoux
the ankles	les chevilles
the feet	les pieds
the toes	les orteils
the nails	les ongles

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🗣️ French Body Parts: Pronunciation Tips

Some French body parts can be surprisingly difficult to pronounce when you’re an English speaker.

Here are a few useful ones:

le nez

= the nose

Approximately: “neh”

les yeux

= the eyes

This is pronounced roughly like “lyuh”, although the French sound doesn’t have an exact equivalent in English.

les épaules

= the shoulders

Approximately: “lay-zay-pohl”

les coudes

= the elbows

Approximately: “kood”

les genoux

= the knees

Approximately: “zhuh-noo”

les oreilles

= the ears

Approximately: “lay-zoh-ray”

les cheveux

= the hair

Approximately: “lay shuh-vuh”

Don’t worry if these sounds feel strange at first. French pronunciation becomes much easier when you hear the word repeatedly and practise it in a sentence.

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🧠 A Useful Difference: English “Hair” vs French “Les Cheveux”

English usually treats hair as an uncountable noun.

French uses:

les cheveux

Literally:

the hairs

So:

J’ai les cheveux longs.
I have long hair.

Elle a les cheveux blonds.
She has blonde hair.

This is a good example of why it’s useful to learn French vocabulary with the article, rather than memorising the noun on its own.

Learn:

les cheveux

rather than simply:

cheveux

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💅 Talking About Your Nails

The body vocabulary becomes much more useful when you start putting it into real sentences.

For example:

Je mets du vernis sur les ongles de mes orteils.

= I put nail polish on my toenails.

Or more simply:

Je mets du vernis à ongles sur mes ongles de pieds.

Useful vocabulary

mettre = to put
je mets = I put
le vernis à ongles = nail polish
les ongles = nails
les orteils = toes

You can also say:

Je mets du vernis sur mes ongles.

= I put nail polish on my nails.

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🌸 Talking About What You’re Going to Do

Let’s turn this into a real conversation.

Moi et mes filles, nous mettons du vernis sur nos orteils ce soir.

= My daughters and I are putting nail polish on our toes tonight.

Then:

Quelle couleur vas-tu choisir ?

= Which colour are you going to choose?

You could answer:

Je vais choisir la couleur rose.

= I’m going to choose pink.

Or:

Je vais choisir le rouge.

Je vais choisir l’orange.

Je vais choisir le rose.

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👧 Talking About Other People

You can continue the conversation:

Et quelles couleurs vont choisir tes filles ?

= And which colours are your daughters going to choose?

Answer:

Je ne sais pas. Peut-être orange ou rouge.

= I don’t know. Maybe orange or red.

This gives you a great opportunity to practise possessive adjectives:

My

mon / ma / mes

mon ongle
ma main
mes mains

Our

notre / nos

notre main
nos mains

Your

votre / vos

votre main
vos mains

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💅 A Real-Life French Conversation

Here’s a complete example:

A: Moi et mes filles, nous mettons du vernis sur nos orteils ce soir.

B: Quelle couleur vas-tu choisir ?

A: Je vais choisir le rose.

B: Et quelles couleurs vont choisir tes filles ?

A: Je ne sais pas. Peut-être orange ou rouge.

B: Est-ce que vous allez demander des faux ongles ?

A: Non, nous ne voulons pas de faux ongles. Nous voulons du vernis à ongles sur les orteils.

B: Et pas sur vos mains ?

A: Non, pas sur nos mains !

This is a great example of how a simple vocabulary topic can become a real conversation in French.

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❤️ “My” and “Our” with Body Parts

When talking about body parts, possessive adjectives are extremely common.

My

mon bras = my arm
ma tête = my head
mes jambes = my legs

Our

notre tête = our head
nos jambes = our legs

Your

votre tête = your head
vos jambes = your legs

Remember:

mon / ma / mes = my
notre / nos = our
votre / vos = your

The possessive adjective agrees with the noun, not with the person who owns the body part.

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🩹 Saying “It Hurts” in French

Body vocabulary becomes particularly useful when talking about pain.

The basic structure is:

J’ai mal à…

= My … hurts / I have pain in my…

For example:

J’ai mal à la tête.
I have a headache.

J’ai mal au dos.
My back hurts.

J’ai mal aux jambes.
My legs hurt.

Notice the contractions:

à + le → au

à + le dos → au dos

à + les → aux

à + les jambes → aux jambes

This is a very useful structure to learn as a whole:

J’ai mal à la tête.

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🚶 “I Go To…” — Je vais à / Je vais au

Another useful expression from this lesson is:

Je vais à…

= I’m going to…

For example:

Je vais à Paris.
I’m going to Paris.

Je vais à l’école.
I’m going to school.

Before a masculine singular place, you often use:

Je vais au…

Je vais au restaurant.
I’m going to the restaurant.

Je vais au cinéma.
I’m going to the cinema.

This is another example of French contractions:

à + le → au

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❤️ Why? “Parce que” and “Car”

Two useful ways to say because are:

parce que

This is the most common and natural choice in everyday conversation.

J’aime le rose parce que c’est une jolie couleur.

= I like pink because it’s a pretty colour.

You can also use:

car

This also means because, but it sounds a little more formal or written.

For everyday spoken French, parce que is usually the easiest choice.

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🔑 Three Essential French Verbs

This lesson also introduces three extremely useful verbs.

VOULOIR — to want

je veux
tu veux
il / elle veut
nous voulons
vous voulez
ils / elles veulent

Examples:

Je veux du vernis rose.
I want pink nail polish.

Nous voulons du vernis sur les orteils.
We want nail polish on our toes.

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DEMANDER — to ask

je demande
tu demandes
il / elle demande
nous demandons
vous demandez
ils / elles demandent

Example:

Je demande une couleur différente.

= I ask for a different colour.

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METTRE — to put

je mets
tu mets
il / elle met
nous mettons
vous mettez
ils / elles mettent

Examples:

Je mets du vernis.

Nous mettons nos chaussures.

Elle met son manteau.

Mettre is an irregular verb, so it’s worth learning these forms gradually through useful sentences.

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✏️ Practice: Complete the Sentences

Choose the correct body part.

1.

J’ai deux __________ pour marcher.

a) mains
b) jambes
c) têtes

2.

Je vois avec mes __________.

a) yeux
b) oreilles
c) pieds

3.

Je mange avec ma __________.

a) bouche
b) jambe
c) main

4.

Je mets du vernis sur mes __________.

a) genoux
b) ongles
c) épaules

5.

J’ai mal au __________.

a) dos
b) mains
c) oreilles

6.

Je porte des chaussures sur mes __________.

a) pieds
b) coudes
c) poignets

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🎯 Translate into French

Try translating these sentences:

1. My head hurts.
2. My hands are cold.
3. I have long hair.
4. I put nail polish on my toenails.
5. We want pink nail polish.
6. My daughters have beautiful eyes.
7. I am going to the doctor.
8. I have pain in my back.
9. Which colour are you going to choose?
10. I don’t know. Maybe red.

Answers

1. J’ai mal à la tête.
2. J’ai les mains froides.
3. J’ai les cheveux longs.
4. Je mets du vernis sur mes ongles de pieds.
5. Nous voulons du vernis rose.
6. Mes filles ont de beaux yeux.
7. Je vais chez le médecin.
8. J’ai mal au dos.
9. Quelle couleur vas-tu choisir ?
10. Je ne sais pas. Peut-être rouge.

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🗣️ Speaking Challenge

Look at yourself or imagine a person in front of you and describe them in French.

Start with simple sentences:

Elle a les cheveux longs.

Elle a les yeux bleus.

Elle a les mains froides.

Elle a une petite bouche.

Then talk about yourself:

J’ai les cheveux…

J’ai les yeux…

J’ai les mains…

Finally, make it conversational:

Quelle couleur vas-tu choisir ?

Pourquoi ?

Est-ce que tu veux du vernis sur tes mains ?

Est-ce que tu vas mettre du vernis sur tes orteils ?

This is how vocabulary becomes active French.

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🌿 Learn French Through Everyday Life

Learning the parts of the body doesn’t have to mean memorising a diagram.

You can learn la tête, les mains, les pieds, les yeux, les cheveux while talking about getting ready in the morning, going to the doctor, exercising, getting your nails done or describing someone you know.

That’s the approach I use in my French lessons: practical vocabulary + grammar + pronunciation + real conversation.

If you’re an English speaker learning French and want to develop the confidence to use French in everyday situations, get in touch to find out about personalised French lessons designed around your level, interests and goals.