English · A1 · vocabulary · 4 minutes
The body
Name basic body parts and report pain naturally.
Understand the choice
Body vocabulary combines irregular plurals and possession. Eye→eyes and ear→ears are regular; foot→feet and tooth→teeth are useful irregular extensions.
Core rule: A body part can be subject of hurt: my hand hurts; plural parts take hurt without -s.
Notice it in context
My head hurts, and my eyes are tired.
Me duele la cabeza y tengo los ojos cansados.
Singular head takes hurts; plural eyes take are and tired.
My right hand hurts, but my arm is fine.
I feel pain in my right hand; my arm has no problem.
Hand and arm distinguish two connected body parts.
The child has a small nose and two ears.
The young person’s nose is small and there are two ears.
Nose and ear appear in singular/plural descriptions.
What to remember
- Ache forms compounds: headache, toothache, stomachache.
- In US English My head hurts is very common; UK English also uses I’ve got a headache.
Common trap: Do not say I am headache.