Language/French/Vocabulary/Le-corps-humain

Salut French learners!

In today's lesson, you will learn words and expressions involving the body parts in French.

Vocabulary

English	French	Audio Add Audio
the head	la tête
the hair	le(s) cheveu(x)
eye(s)	les yeux, l'oeil
the nose	le nez
the mouth	la bouche
ears	les oreilles
cheeks	les joues
the forehead	le front
the chin	le menton
the eyelashes	les cils
eyebrows	les sourcils
teeth	les dents
shoulders	les épaules
arms	les bras
the elbow	le coude
hands	les mains
wrist	le poignet
fingers	les doigts
hips	les hanches
the back	le dos
the buttocks	les fesses
legs	les jambes
knees	les genoux
feet	les pieds
ankle	la cheville
the toes	les doigts de pied
nails	les ongles
chest	la poitrine
belly	le ventre
pelvis	le bassin
Thighs	les cuisses

French expression involving body parts:

Coudes (Elbows)

Jouer des coudes

• Literally: Playing with elbows Draw or open (a path) in the middle of obstacles.
• Meaning: Jostle, Draw or open (a path) in the middle of obstacles.

Épaules (shoulders)

Avoir les épaules larges

• Literally: Have broad shoulders
• Meaning: Support a lot of things

Main (hand)

Mettre sa main à couper

• Literally: put his hand to cut
• Meaning: to be very sure about something

Avoir un poil dans la main

• Literally: “to have a hair (growing) on one’s hand”
• Meaning: to be be lazy.

Gagner haut la main

• Literally: “to win high handed”
• Meaning: to have a clear victory

avoir le coeur sur la main

• Literally: have the heart on the hand
• Meaning: being generous

Nez (nose)

Avoir un coup dans le nez

• Literally : Getting hit in the nose.
• Meaning : Drinking too much

Ongles (Nails)

Se battre bec et ongles

• Literally: to fight tooth and nail
• Meaning:Defend yourself with all your might

Oreille (ear)

Mettre la puce à l’oreille

• Literally: “putting the flea to the ear”
• Meaning: making someone suspicious, giving a hint that something is going on, on purpose or not.

Dormir sur ses deux oreilles

• Literally: “sleeping on both ears”
• Meaning: to sleep very soundly.

Ce n’est pas tombé dans l’oreille d’un sourd

• Literally: It did not fall in the ear of a deaf man
• Meaning: it didn’t fall on deaf ears.

Rebattre les oreilles

• Literally: beat the ears again
• Meaning: to talk someone ear’s off about the same thing over and over again.

Tête (head)

faire la tête

• Literally: Make head
• Meaning: to pout

garder la tête froide

• Literally: keep a cool head
• Meaning: to keep one's calm

Ne plus savoir où donner de la tête

• Literally: Not longer knowing where to turn the head.
• Meaning: Being overwhelmed by events.

se creuser la tête

• Literally: dig up one's head
• Meaning: to think really hard

se prendre la tête

• Literally: take one's head
• Meaning: make a big thing about something

de la tête au pied

• Litterally: from head to foot
• Meaning: the entire body

Pied (foot)

de la tête au pied

• Litterally: from head to foot
• Meaning: the entire body

Œil (eye)

se mettre le doigt dans l'œil

• Literally: Put your finger in the eye
• Meaning: to make a mistake

ne pas avoir froid aux yeux

• Literally: to not have cold eyes
• Meaning: to not be scared

à l'œil

• Literally: at the eye
• Meaning:

1. Without paying, for free (Je l'ai eu à l'œil / I had it for free)
2. To keep an eye on [something] (Je te garde à l'œil, Je t'ai à l'œil)

avoir un œil de lynx

• Meaning: be abel to see all, also detail and very far sing

1. It said after that we said something ( hinden or little) that the other not see

Bouche (mouth)

rester bouche cousue

• Literally: to keep mouth sewn
• Meaning: to not say anything; keep a secret

avoir/mettre l'eau à la bouche

• Literally: make mouth water
• Meaning: to want/drool over something

rester bouche bée

• Meaning: to remain speechless

Cheveux (hair)

avoir un cheveu sur la langue

• Literally: to have a hair on the tongue
• Meaning: to lisp. For someone who has a permanent speech impediment, we also use the term "zozoter".

Langue (tongue)

ne pas avoir la langue dans sa poche

• Literally: not to have the tongue in his pocket
• Meaning: to be talkative

avoir la langue bien pendue

• Literally: to have the tongue well hanged
• Meaning: to know how to answer/talk

Avoir une langue de vipère

This is often a negative idiom. It is more often than not used in a sense that someone, yes, has a lot of wit, but also that you can't have the last word against this person. They come back against anything, even well-earned criticism, and often through the means of witty insults.

Doigts (fingers)

ne rien faire de ses dix doigts

• Literally: Do nothing with his ten fingers
• Meaning: to be lazy

faire/réussir (quelque chose) les doigts dans le nez

• Literally: Doing/succed (something) the fingers in the nose
• Meaning: that it is/was very easy

Pieds (feet)

casser les pieds

• Literally: to break feet
• Meaning: disturbing someone

comme un pied

• Literally: like a foot
• Meaning: very badly
• Example: Tu chantes comme un pied : You sing as a foot = to sing very badly

Ventre (head)

Avoir les yeux plus gros que le ventre

• Literally: To have eyes bigger than the belly
• Meaning: to bite off more than one can chew

Videos

Watch the video below, it will allow you to review some of the words learned in the lesson:

That's all for today! I hope you have learned something!