Italian Body Parts: 40 Essential Words (Plus the Grammar Quirks That Will Surprise You)

Body parts in Italian are essential for medicine, conversation, and expressing pain. But there are two grammar quirks that will catch you off guard if nobody warns you. First: several body parts change gender in the plural — il braccio becomes le braccia. Second: Italians almost never use possessives with body parts. Instead of 'my head hurts', they say mi fa male la testa — 'the head hurts me'. Once you know both rules, everything else makes sense.

In Italian, body parts are used with the definite article rather than possessives when it's clear from context whose body is involved. Instead of mi lavo le mie mani, you say mi lavo le mani — I wash my hands. The reflexive pronoun mi already indicates ownership. This applies with reflexive verbs and direct object constructions involving body parts. It is one of the most distinctive features of Italian and one of the most common errors made by English speakers.