The Body
Learn 20 easy A1 English words for parts of the body - head, shoulder, knee, stomach, teeth - with examples, a short story and a quiz.
You need these words at the doctor, at the gym, at the barber and every time something hurts. Twenty parts of the body, from the top of your head to your smallest toe. Learn them, then read about my first and worst day at the gym.
20 words to learn
The 20 words
/ˈbɒdi/
All of a person, from head to feet.
Sport is good for the body and the mind.
/hed/
The top part of you, with your face inside it.
My head hurts today.
/feɪs/
The front of your head: eyes, nose and mouth.
Wash your face with cold water.
/nəʊz/
You smell and breathe with it.
My nose is cold.
/maʊθ/
You eat and speak with it.
Open your mouth, please.
/ɪə(r)/
You hear with it. You have two.
He put the phone to his ear.
/tiːθ/
The white things in your mouth. One is a tooth.
Brush your teeth twice a day.
/nek/
The part between your head and your shoulders.
I slept badly and now my neck hurts.
/ˈʃəʊldə(r)/
The top of your arm, next to your neck.
He carried the bag on his shoulder.
/ɑːm/
The long part from your shoulder to your hand.
She broke her arm last year.
/hænd/
The end of your arm, with five fingers.
Wash your hands before you eat.
/ˈfɪŋɡə(r)/
You have five on each hand.
I cut my finger on the knife.
/bæk/
The part of you behind, from your neck to the bottom.
Sit up straight – your back will thank you.
/leɡ/
The long part you walk with.
My legs hurt after the match.
/niː/
The middle of your leg, where it bends. The k is silent.
He fell and hurt his knee.
/fʊt/
The end of your leg. Two of them are feet.
My left foot is bigger than my right one.
/təʊ/
You have five on each foot.
I hit my little toe on the door.
/ˈstʌmək/
Inside you, where the food goes. Say STUM-uk.
I have a pain in my stomach.
/hɑːt/
Inside your chest. It moves the blood.
My heart was very fast after the stairs.
/skɪn/
The outside cover of your whole body.
The sun is strong – protect your skin.
Now read the story
Story · all 20 words
My First Day at the Gym
My friend Yousef decided in January that this year would be different, and on the first Monday he took me to a gym. I am not a sport person. My body and I have a very old agreement: I do not ask it to run, and it does not complain about anything.
The trainer was an enormous man with a small head and a friendly face. He put one hand on my shoulder and gave me my first instruction: “Breathe through your nose, not through your mouth.” Then he put music in one ear and told me to walk on the machine for ten minutes.
After five minutes my heart was going very fast and my skin was wet. After ten minutes I could feel every muscle in my leg. My left knee said something to me for the first time in years, and my right foot had a serious problem with my shoe: the smallest toe was not happy at all.
Then he gave me two small weights, one in each hand. “Straight back,” he said. “Arm up, arm down. Neck relaxed, please.” After eight times I could not feel my fingers, and my teeth were pressed together so hard that my whole face hurt.
At the end I sat on the floor with an empty stomach and no words left. Yousef looked down at me and smiled. “Same time on Wednesday?” I said yes, and I do not know why. That was four months ago. Yesterday I ran for twenty minutes without stopping, and my body and I have a completely new agreement.
Two irregular plurals you must know:
one foot → two feet | one tooth → two teeth
Never say foots or tooths. Everything else here is normal: arms, legs, ears, fingers, toes.
Silent letters: knee has a silent k – say NEE, like know and knife. And stomach ends with a /k/ sound: STUM-uk, not sto-match.
A grammar habit to build: English uses my, your, his, her with body parts, not the.
✓ I broke my arm. ✗ I broke the arm.
✓ Wash your hands. ✗ Wash the hands.
Head: head, face, nose, mouth, ear, teeth, neck.
Top half: shoulder, arm, hand, finger, back, heart, stomach.
Bottom half: leg, knee, foot, toe.
All of it: body, skin.
Touch each part and say the word out loud once. Do it twice tonight and once tomorrow morning – that is all this lesson needs.
Now practise with the questions below.
Check your understanding
Answer the questions below. You will see instantly if you are right.
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