Body Parts in Chinese: Head, Hand, Leg & Health Phrases

Body vocabulary is useful for describing pain, shopping for clothes and understanding a doctor's questions. Start with the common nouns, then add the two sentence patterns that carry most everyday needs: 我的……疼 (my … hurts) and 我……不舒服 (I feel unwell in …).

Head and face

These words appear in everyday conversation and in clinics. Notice that 头发 (hair) is different from 头 (head), and 脸 (face) is not 面, which is more often used in compounds and written forms.

Chinese often uses a plural meaning without marking it: 眼睛 can mean eye or eyes depending on context. When a number is needed, add a measure word: 两只眼睛 (two eyes), 一颗牙 (one tooth).

Arms, hands and body

手 means hand and 胳膊 means arm; they are not interchangeable. 脚 means foot, 腿 means leg and 膝盖 means knee. 指 for fingers appears in 手指 (finger) and 脚趾 (toe) uses 趾.

Internal organs are usually learned later, but a few appear in ordinary health talk: 心脏 heart, 胃 stomach, 肺 lungs, 肝 liver and 肾 kidneys. 胃 and 肚子 are not the same: 胃 refers to the organ, while 肚子 is the everyday word for the belly area.

Saying what hurts

The most useful pattern is 我的 + body part + 疼: 我的头疼 (my head hurts), 我的肚子疼 (my stomach hurts), 我的膝盖疼 (my knee hurts). In casual speech the 的 is often dropped: 我头疼.

疼 and 痛 both mean pain. 疼 is more common in everyday speech, while 痛 appears in many written and compound forms such as 头痛. For most conversations, 疼 is the safer starting point.

• 我头疼。My head hurts.
• 我嗓子疼。My throat hurts.
• 我肚子疼。My stomach hurts.
• 我的背有点疼。My back hurts a little.
• 这里疼。It hurts here. — useful while pointing.

Describing feeling unwell

不舒服 means unwell or uncomfortable. 我不舒服 is a general statement that something is wrong. 生病 means to be ill, and 感冒 means to have a cold. 发烧 means to have a fever, and 咳嗽 means to cough.

• 我不舒服。I do not feel well.
• 我感冒了。I have a cold.
• 我发烧了。I have a fever.
• 我有点头晕。I feel a little dizzy.
• 我过敏。I have an allergy.

If you need medical help, say 我要看医生 (I need to see a doctor) or 请帮我叫救护车 (please call an ambulance). For anything serious or urgent, contact local emergency services directly rather than relying on a translated sentence.

At a clinic or pharmacy

Useful questions include 这里疼 (it hurts here), 什么时候开始的？ (when did it start?), 一天吃几次？ (how many times a day do I take it?) and 有副作用吗？ (are there side effects?). If you already take medication, say 我在吃这个药 and show the packaging.

Allergy statements matter here too: 我对青霉素过敏 (I am allergic to penicillin) and 我对花生过敏 (I am allergic to peanuts). Write the specific allergen in Chinese on a card if the reaction is serious, and confirm it with a pharmacist or clinician rather than assuming a translation is complete.

Measure words and quantities

Body nouns take different measure words. Common examples: 一只手 (one hand), 两只眼睛 (two eyes), 一条腿 (one leg), 一颗牙 (one tooth) and 一根手指 (one finger). 双 is used for pairs: 一双眼睛 is possible in some contexts, but 两只眼睛 is the more common everyday count.

条 is used for long, thin shapes, so 一条腿 and 一条胳膊 sound natural. 张 can describe a face in some expressions: 一张脸. Learning the whole phrase is more reliable than applying a rule to every noun.

Common mistakes to check

• Using 手 for the whole arm instead of 胳膊.
• Mixing 胃 (the organ) with 肚子 (the belly area).
• Assuming 疼 and 痛 have different meanings; the difference is mainly register.
• Forgetting that body nouns may already carry plural meaning without a marker.
• Using 有 to describe pain instead of 疼.
• Treating a translated medical sentence as a substitute for professional care.

This page teaches vocabulary and common phrases. It is not medical advice and cannot diagnose a condition. For urgent symptoms, use local emergency services.