Parts of the Body

The German words for many parts of the body are similar or identical to English: der Arm, die Hand, der Finger, das Haar, das Kinn. (English is, after all, a Germanic language.) But of course they're not all that easy, and you still need to learn the genders of even the easy ones. (Don't ask me why a hand is feminine but a finger is masculine. It's pointless to worry about such things.)

German Expressions Using Parts of the Body

Hals- und Beinbruch!
Break a leg!

(Neck and leg break!)
(Although it adds the neck, the
German expression actually wishes
someone good luck, as in English.)

One element of this lesson relates to the way that German-speakers talk about the body. In the classic film "Casablanca," Humphrey Bogart's character says to Ingrid Bergman: "Here's lookin' at you, kid." In the German version, that Americanism became "Ich schau dir in die Augen, Kleines." Instead of saying "your eyes," German tends to be more like the English expression "I'm looking you in the eye," using the definite article with the dative to show personal possession. Let's learn the basic vocabulary of Körperteile (parts of the body).

German Glossary for Body Parts

In this glossary, the plural form is given only for those items that usually come in pairs or multiples (eyes, ears, fingers, etc.). You'll notice that our glossary runs from the top of the body (head) to the bottom (foot, von Kopf bis Fuß).

der menschliche Körper von Kopf bis Fuß The Human Body from head to toe (foot)
Englisch	Deutsch
hair*	das Haar/die Haare (pl.)
*In German "hair" can be referred to as singular or plural, when it is only singular in English: "my hair" = mein Haar (sing.) or meine Haare (pl.); "her long hair" = ihr langes Haar (sing.) or ihre langen Haare (pl.)
head	der Kopf
ear, ears	das Ohr, die Ohren (pl.)
face	das Gesicht
forehead	die Stirn
eyebrow, eyebrows	die Augenbraue, die Augenbrauen
eyelash, eyelashes	die Wimper, die Wimpern
eye, eyes	das Auge, die Augen
nose	die Nase
lip, lips	die Lippe, die Lippen
mouth*	der Mund
*An animal's mouth is called das Maul. When used for people, it's considered rude: "Halt's Maul!" = "Shut up!"
tooth, teeth	der Zahn, die Zähne
chin	das Kinn
neck	der Hals
shoulder, shoulders	die Schulter, die Schultern
back	der Rücken
arm, arms	der Arm, die Arme
elbow, elbows	der Ell(en)bogen, die Ell(en)bogen
wrist, wrists	das Handgelenk, die Handgelenke
hand, hands	die Hand, die Hände
finger, fingers	der Finger, die Finger
thumb, thumbs*	der Daumen, die Daumen
*Instead of crossing your fingers, in German you "press your thumb" for good luck: Daumen drücken! = "Cross your fingers!"
index finger	der Zeigefinger
finger nail (nails)	der Fingernagel (-nägel)
chest	die Brust
breast, breasts (bosom)	die Brust, die Brüste (der Busen)
stomach, belly	der Bauch