Language/French/Vocabulary/Le-corps-humain
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Rate this lesson: 
Salut French learners!
In today's lesson, you will learn words and expressions involving the body parts in French.
Vocabulary
| la tête | the head |
|---|---|
| le(s) cheveu(x) | the hair |
| les yeux, l'oeil | eye(s) |
| le nez | the nose |
| la bouche | the mouth |
| les oreilles | ears |
| les joues | cheeks |
| le front | the forehead |
| le menton | the chin |
| les cils | the eyelashes |
| les sourcils | eyebrows |
| les dents | teeth |
| les épaules | shoulders |
| les bras | arms |
| le coude | the elbow |
| les mains | hands |
| le poignet | wrist |
| les doigts | fingers |
| les hanches | hips |
| le dos | the back |
| les fesses | the buttocks |
| les jambes | legs |
| les genoux | knees |
| les pieds | feet |
| la cheville | ankle |
| les doigts de pied | the toes |
| les ongles | nails |
French expression involving body parts:
Main (hand)
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
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
se creuser la tête
- Literally: dig up one's head
- Meaning: to think really hard
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:
- Without paying, for free (Je l'ai eu à l'œil / I had it for free)
- To keep an eye on [something] (Je te garde à l'œil, Je t'ai à l'œil)
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
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
Pieds
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
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
That's all for today! I hope you have learned something!