The Body in Italian

After this lesson you’ll know the parts of the body in Italian as well as how to describe some minor ailments.

Listen to the audio and follow the pronunciation, and when you’re ready, practice saying the Italian words aloud. I hope you don’t need to use it, but you’ll also learn how to say "Sono malato" in Italian – just in case!

Just as everything else in Italian, body parts are either feminine or masculine, which affects how you would describe them! Look at the following gender clues in both singular and plural forms:

Resources for further reading:

Talking about the body in Italian

Let's get started...

Practice Your Pronunciation With Rocket Record

Rocket Record lets you perfect your Italian pronunciation. Just listen to the native speaker audio and then use the microphone icon to record yourself. Once you’re done, you’ll get a score out of 100 on your pronunciation and can listen to your own audio playback. (Use a headset mic for best results.) Problems? Click here!

Il corpo

The body

La gamba

The leg

Le gambe

The legs

La mano

The hand

Le mani

The hands

Il piede

The foot

I piedi

The feet

La testa

The head

Lo stomaco

The stomach

La schiena

The back

When a word begins with “Il”, it means it falls into the masculine group of words, and when it begins with “La”, it’s feminine. If the word is a plural then it begins with "Le" if it refers to a feminine noun, and either with "Gli" or "I" if it's a masculine word. Thus "la mano" becomes "le mani" and "il piede" becomes "i piedi".

Describing pain in Italian

When describing physical pain in Italian, its useful to know a few expressions that might get you some help when you need it!

Sono malato

I am sick

Malore / dolore

Pain / Ache

Io ho mal di testa

I have a headache

Io ho mal di schiena

I have a back ache

Io ho mal di stomaco

I have a stomach ache

That's it for this lesson! Here are a few recommended Italian lessons to try next!

A presto!

Maria DiLorenzi and the Rocket Italian Team

Make It Stick With Rocket Reinforcement

Reinforce your learning from this lesson with the Rocket Reinforcement activities!