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German · Vocabulary · A1 to B1

Parts of the body in German: Kopf, Schulter, Knie und Fuß

The children’s song every German knows · tap a word, or play the line
masculineder KopfKOPF · headplural: die Köpfe
Mirto-metutdoesder Kopfthe headweh.hurt
meer toot dair KOPF VAY · “I have a headache.”Why: Wehtun splits: tut… weh. Kopf → Köpfe adds an umlaut in the plural.

Short answer: learn every body word with its article, because the gender (der, die or das) is not predictable: der Kopf, die Hand, das Knie. To say something hurts, use wehtun with the dative: Mir tut der Kopf weh. For your own body, German uses der/die/das plus a dative pronoun, not “my”: Ich wasche mir die Hände.

Twenty body words by gender

Der, die, das from head to toe

Sorted by gender, so the colour does the remembering. Tap a word to hear it with its article.

dermasculine
diefeminine
dasneuter
Saying what hurts

Mir tut der Kopf weh

Wehtun (to hurt) is separable: tut in second place, weh at the end. The person in pain is in the dative case (the “to whom” form): mir, dir, ihm. Plural body parts take tun. For lasting pain, use a compound with -schmerzen.

Mirto-metutdoesder Rückenthe backweh.hurt
meer toot dair RÜ-ken VAY · “My back hurts.”One body part: tut.
Mirto-metundodie Füßethe feetweh.hurt
meer toon dee FÜ-se VAY · “My feet hurt.”Plural subject: tun.
Tutdoesdirto-youetwassomethingweh?hurt
toot deer ET-vas VAY · “Does anything hurt?”Question: the verb comes first.
WowheretutdoesesitIhnento-you(formal)weh?hurt
voh toot es EE-nen VAY · “Where does it hurt? (doctor)”Ihnen: the formal dative.
IchIhabehaveKopfschmerzen.head-pains
ikh HAA-be KOPF-shmer-tsen · “I have a headache.”Body part + Schmerzen: Bauchschmerzen, Rückenschmerzen.
IchIhabehaveHalsschmerzen.throat-pains
ikh HAA-be HALS-shmer-tsen · “I have a sore throat.”Der Hals is both neck and throat.
Mir instead of “my”

Ich putze mir die Zähne

For actions on your own body, German says “I brush to me the teeth”. The dative pronoun shows whose body it is; the noun keeps its plain article.

  1. 1
    IchIputzebrushmirto-medie Zähne.the teeth
    ikh PU-tse meer dee TSAY-ne
    “I brush my teeth.”
  2. 2
    Waschwashdirto-youdie Hände!the hands
    vash deer dee HEN-de
    “Wash your hands!”
  3. 3
    Erhehathassichto-himselfdas Beinthe leggebrochen.broken
    air hat zikh das BAIN ge-BRO-khen
    “He has broken his leg.”
  4. 4
    Sieshekämmtcombssichto-herselfdie Haare.the hair
    zee KEMT zikh dee HAA-re
    “She combs her hair.”
  5. 5
    IchIschneidecutmirto-medie Nägel.the nails
    ikh SHNAI-de meer dee NAY-gel
    “I’m cutting my nails.”
Body idioms

Daumen drücken, Hals- und Beinbruch

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Related guides

Health vocabulary →Beim Arzt and in the Apotheke.Ich habe Fieber.Reflexive verbs →Mir and sich in action.sich waschenGender and articles →Tricks for der, die, das.das KnieThe four cases →Why it’s mir, not mich.Dativ