French Body Parts: 35+ Essential Words With Pronunciation and Medical Phrases

Why Learn Body Parts in French?

Knowing body parts in French is essential for medical situations, understanding everyday idioms, and navigating life in any of the 29 countries where French is an official language. According to the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie's 2024 report, approximately 321 million people speak French worldwide, making it the fifth most spoken language globally.

Like all French nouns, body parts carry grammatical gender, masculine (le) or feminine (la). There is no reliable rule for predicting gender; it must be memorized with each word. French also features some of the language's most irregular plurals in body vocabulary, including the famous l'œil (eye) becoming les yeux (eyes). Whether you're looking up "french body parts" for travel, study, or conversation, this guide covers everything you need.

"The vocabulary of the human body is among the oldest and most stable layers of any language. In French, body-part terms have served as the foundation for metaphorical expression since the earliest Old French texts of the ninth century."

(Maurice Grevisse & André Goosse, Le Bon Usage, De Boeck Supérieur, 2016)

This guide covers 35+ body parts organized by region, with pronunciation, gender, medical phrases, and the idioms French speakers use every day. For interactive practice, visit our French learning page.

Head and Face

The head and face account for the densest cluster of body vocabulary in French. Pay special attention to l'œil / les yeux, one of the most irregular noun forms in the entire language.

Key Medical Phrases for Head and Face

When communicating with a doctor or pharmacist in a French-speaking country, these constructions are essential:

• J'ai mal à la tête (zhay mahl ah lah teht): "I have a headache"
• J'ai mal aux yeux (zhay mahl oh zyuh): "My eyes hurt"
• J'ai mal aux dents (zhay mahl oh dahn): "I have a toothache"
• Mon nez saigne (mohn neh sehn-yuh): "My nose is bleeding"

The core construction is avoir mal à (to have pain at) + definite article + body part. Note the contractions: à + le = au, à + les = aux. So "my back hurts" is J'ai mal au dos (not à le dos).

Upper Body and Torso

Torso vocabulary appears frequently in medical consultations and physical descriptions. Several of these words have unexpected genders that must be memorized.

Medical Phrases for the Upper Body

• J'ai mal au dos (zhay mahl oh doh): "My back hurts"
• J'ai mal au ventre (zhay mahl oh vahn-truh): "My stomach hurts"
• J'ai mal à la poitrine (zhay mahl ah lah pwah-TREEN): "My chest hurts" (seek immediate help)
• J'ai des nausées (zhay deh noh-ZEH): "I feel nauseous"

Arms and Hands

Arm and hand vocabulary is essential for everyday French. The word la main (hand) appears in an extraordinary number of idioms and fixed expressions.

Body Part Idioms: Arms and Hands

French is extraordinarily rich in hand and arm idioms. Here are the most common:

• Avoir le bras long (to have the long arm): to have connections, to be well-connected
• Se serrer les coudes (to squeeze elbows together): to stick together, to support each other
• Avoir le cœur sur la main (to have the heart on the hand): to be generous
• Mettre la main à la pâte (to put the hand in the dough): to pitch in, to get involved
• En un tour de main (in a turn of the hand): in an instant
• Haut la main (hand up high): easily, hands down

Lower Body and Legs

Lower body vocabulary is critical for sports, medical descriptions, and understanding the many French idioms built around feet and legs.

Lower Body Idioms

• Casser les pieds à quelqu'un (to break someone's feet): to annoy someone
• Avoir bon pied, bon œil (to have good foot, good eye): to be in good shape
• Mettre les pieds dans le plat (to put feet in the dish): to put your foot in your mouth
• Être sur pied (to be on foot): to be up and about, to be operational
• Faire du genou (to do the knee): to play footsie under the table

Internal Organs

Internal organ vocabulary is particularly important for medical communication. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie notes that French serves as the primary medical language in 29 countries across four continents.

Essential Medical Phrases With Organs

• J'ai mal au cœur (zhay mahl oh kuhr): "I feel sick to my stomach" (NOT "my heart hurts," this is a common trap!)
• Mon cœur bat très vite (mohn kuhr bah treh veet): "My heart is beating very fast"
• J'ai mal aux reins (zhay mahl oh rehn): "My lower back hurts"
• Je me suis cassé un os (zhuh muh swee kah-SEH uhn ohs): "I broke a bone"

The Avoir Mal Construction: Expressing Pain in French

The core pattern for describing pain in French uses avoir mal à (to have pain at):

Remember the contractions: à + le = au, à + les = aux. The body part keeps its definite article, not a possessive adjective. This pattern applies universally across all body parts.

Body Part Idioms Native Speakers Actually Use

French is celebrated for its body-part idioms. The Académie française's dictionary contains hundreds of fixed expressions built around tête, cœur, main, and other body words. Here are the most frequently used in conversation and in French films and TV:

• Coûter les yeux de la tête (to cost the eyes from the head): to be outrageously expensive
• Avoir la tête dans les nuages (to have the head in the clouds): to be a daydreamer
• Donner sa langue au chat (to give one's tongue to the cat): to give up guessing
• Avoir l'estomac dans les talons (to have the stomach in the heels): to be starving
• Faire la sourde oreille (to do the deaf ear): to turn a deaf ear
• Garder la tête froide (to keep the head cold): to keep a cool head

"French idiomatic expressions built on body-part metaphors reveal a systematic mapping of physical experience onto abstract thought that has remained remarkably stable since the Middle Ages."

(Académie française, Dictionnaire, 9th edition)

Practice Body Parts With Real French Content

Building vocabulary from organized tables is an excellent start, but encountering these words in authentic French conversation is what drives long-term retention. French cinema and television provide natural, repeated exposure to body vocabulary, from medical dramas to comedies to thrillers.

Wordy lets you watch French content with interactive subtitles. Tap on any body-part word to see its gender, pronunciation, and meaning in real time. Instead of memorizing from lists alone, you absorb la tête, le cœur, and les yeux naturally, the way native speakers encounter them.

Explore our blog for more French guides, or visit the best movies to learn French for viewing recommendations that bring this vocabulary to life.