Learn Spanish body-parts in minutes! ~ Learn Spanish language fast | free memory tricks | Spanish vocabulary lessons.
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Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Learn Spanish body-parts in minutes!


When you were a young child, it's possible that among the first words taught to you (as opposed to the words you picked up naturally) were the names of the parts of your body. Those words aren't likely the first words you'll need to learn in Spanish, but they're often indispensable.


Names of body parts are used much the same in Spanish as in English — but with one significant difference. In Spanish, names of parts of the body are frequently preceded by the definite article (el, la, los or las, meaning "the") instead of possessive adjectives (such as mi for "my" and tu for "your"). In most cases, the possessive adjective is used only where the context doesn't make clear whose body is being referred to. Examples: ¡Abre los ojos! (Open your eyes!) ¡Cierre la boca! (Shut your mouth!) Él bajó la cabeza para orar. (He bowed his head to pray.)

The possessive adjective is used when needed to avoid ambiguity. Examples: Me gustan tus ojos. (I like your eyes.) Acerqué mi mano a su cabeza. (I moved my hand close to his head.)
Although English often omits the definite article when referring to body parts, they are usually retained in Spanish (when a possessive adjective isn't used). Examples: Tengo el pelo negro. (I have black hair.) Prefiero los ojos verdes. (I prefer green eyes.)

Here are the Spanish words for common body parts:

arm — el brazo (imagine a huge statue with brass arms)

back — la espalda (a girl with bare back is doing a seductive pole dance)

backbone — la columna vertebral (vertebral column!)

brain — el cerebro (cerebrum is the biological term for brain in English)

breast, chest — el pecho (imagine a body-builder with his chiseled pecs)

buttocks — las nalgas (a huge man whose ass looks full of anal gas!)

calf — la pantorrilla (a gorilla wearing short pants baring his calf)

ear — el oído, la oreja (imagine a deranged serial-killer who has his victims’ ears stored in a jar!)

elbow — el codo (remember the alphabet: b, c, d…bo-co-doelbow-codo)

eye — el ojo (picture the 2 o’s of ojo as resembling 2 eyes and the j, nose!)

finger — el dedo (See Note 1) (it’s so cold here: My fingers feel numb and dead!)

foot — el pie (imagine walking briskly while you accidentally step into a dish of pie kept on the floor)

hair — el pelo (if you see hair on your pillow, you are losing hair)

hand — la mano (See Note 2) (Man Friday was Crusoe’s right-hand)

head — la cabeza (that ugly lady’s head looks like a cabbage)

heart — el corazón (remember the song by Ricky Martin?)

hip — la cadera (shakira’s cadera don’t lie)

intestine — el intestino (you really need a trick to remember this one?)

knee — la rodilla (there’s a giant gorilla on the road, the rodilla…you won’t even reach its knees!)

leg — la pierna (pie is to pierna what foot is to leg)

liver — el hígado (hidden above your guts, is an organ called liver)

mouth — la boca (ever heard of the buccal cavity in biology?)

muscle — el músculo (similar, ain’t they?)

neck — el cuello (See Note 3) (I am curious about your yellow neck!)

nose — la nariz (See Note 3) (an accident in Arizona gave me a broken nose)

shoulder — el hombro (imagine a man, un hombre, with broad shoulders)

skin — la piel (ever seen someone with his skin peeled off?)

stomach (abdomen) — el vientre (the hefty bouncer wearing a v-neck and having 6-pack abs is at the entrance of the disc)

stomach (internal organ) — el estómago (similar sounds)

thigh — el muslo (imagine a wrestler’s muscular thighs)

throat — la garganta (gargling is good for sore throat)

toe — el dedo (See Note 1)

tongue — la lengua (to speak any language, you need a tongue)

tooth — el diente (dental and diente sound very similar)

Notes:

1. El dedo can refer to either a finger or a toe. If necessary to distinguish, you can use el dedo de la mano or el dedo del pie, respectively.

2. Mano is one of the very few Spanish nouns ending in -o that is feminine.

3. Some of these terms are used for humans but not for other animals (or not as frequently). For example, el hocico and el pescuezo are often used to refer to the nose and neck of animals, respectively.

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