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Let’s learn some body parts in Spanish! The most commonly mention parts of the body include “hands”, “head”, “heart”, “eyes”. Let’s learn these and several more Spanish nouns, and we’ll also get lots of spoken practice with them in context.
Ya está en tus manos.
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Today we’re going to learn a few nouns for the most commonly mentioned parts of the body in Spanish. We’ll also get more practice with Dar and with our new pronouns and conjunctions.
Let’s begin with the word for “body”, which is cuerpo. As you might guess, this is related to the latin word that gives us “corpse” in English, but in Spanish, cuerpo can refer to a living body as well. For example:
Which part of the body is unwell?
¿Qué parte del cuerpo está mal?
Now, in English, we would probably say “which part of YOUR body isn’t well”, because in English, we rarely refer to body parts without a possessive pronoun, such as “his head”, “my hands”, and so on. But in Spanish, body parts are often referred to simply with articles, such as “the head” and “the hands”. It’s usually clear from context whose head or hands you’re talking about.
Let’s demonstrate with an example that uses the word for “head”, which is the feminine noun cabeza. Check out this English sentence:
Why are you scratching your head?
In Spanish, you wouldn’t say “scratching your head”; instead, you’d actually say “scratching yourself the head”. So the Spanish would be:
¿Por qué te you scratch la cabeza?
¿Por qué te rascas la cabeza?
As another example,
He hurt his head.
Se he hurt la cabeza.
Se lastimó la cabeza.
And then the word for “mind” is mente. For example:
She did all those things only with her mind.
Ella hizo todas esas cosas solo con la mente.
Let’s practice cuerpo, cabeza, and mente.
I’m going to give you a hat for your head.
Voy a darte un hat para la cabeza.
Voy a darte un sombrero para la cabeza.
It’s all in the mind, for the body is fine.
Todo está en la mente, pues el cuerpo está bien.
They gave him shampoo for his head.
Le dieron shampoo para la cabeza.
Le dieron champú para la cabeza.
Body and mind, which are the most important, have to be at peace.
El cuerpo y la mente, los cuales son lo más important, tienen que estar at peace.
El cuerpo y la mente, los cuales son lo más importante, tienen que estar en paz.
Now let’s talk about the face. The word for face is cara. Here’s an example that actually does use a possessive pronoun:
I want to see your face.
Quiero to see tu cara.
Quiero ver tu cara.
The two most-mentioned parts of the face are the eyes and the mouth. The word for “eye” is ojo, a masculine noun, and the word for “mouth” is boca, a feminine noun. For example:
Her eyes always make me happy.
Sus ojos siempre me hacen feliz.
Here’s a tricky one that uses the word “whose”, which in Spanish is translated as de quién, literally “of who” (or “of whom”).
Whose mouth said those things?
¿La boca de quién dijo esas cosas?
Let’s practice cara, ojo, and boca.
He has to check my mouth and eyes.
Tiene que check la boca y los ojos.
Tiene que revisarme la boca y los ojos.
The eyes and mouth are like his dad’s.
Los ojos y la boca son como los de su papá.
I’m giving her cream(f) for her face, which she has to give me back.
Le doy cream para la cara, la cual tiene que darme de vuelta.
Le doy crema para la cara, la cual tiene que darme de vuelta.
Another very frequently-mentioned body part is “hand”, which is mano. This is actually a feminine noun even though it ends with the letter O. For example:
These hands have done a lot today.
Estas manos han hecho mucho hoy.
To say “she washed her hands”, you’ll actually say “she washed herself the hands.”
She washed her hands.
Ella se washed las manos.
Ella se lavó las manos.
This word is used in several idioms. To say that someone is handling something, meaning that they have it under control, you often say that the thing is “in hands of” the person. For example:
The problem is in the dude’s hands.
El problema está en manos del tipo.
Another very common idiom is to “give someone a hand”, meaning “to help someone out”. This idiom is basically just the same in Spanish as in English. For example:
Can you give me a hand with this?
¿Me puedes dar una mano con esto?
Let’s practice using mano.
The problem is in the boss’s(m) hands.
El problema está en manos del boss.
El problema está en manos del jefe.
Please, you have to give me a hand with this.
Por favor, tienes que darme una mano con esto.
It was in her hands, even though she didn’t know it.
Estaba en sus manos, aunque no lo sabía.
My dad gives us a hand with those things.
Mi papá nos da una mano con esas cosas.
My hands are clean, we can eat!
¡Mis manos están clean, podemos to eat!
¡Mis manos están limpias, podemos comer!
We have just three more nouns to learn. The first is corazón, which means “heart”. This is a masculine noun spelled c-o-r-a-z-o-n, with an accent mark on the last O. This word is used figuratively to represent love, in many of the same ways we use the word “heart” in English. For example:
I will always have her in my heart.
Siempre la tendré en mi corazón.
He really gave his heart to her.
De verdad él le dio su corazón.
Their family is in the hearts and minds of everyone.
Su familia está en los corazones y las mentes de todos.
On a more literal basis, coming back to the body, the heart pumps blood, and the word for “blood” is sangre. This is a feminine noun, and kind of like the word “blood” in English, it’s used in some figurative ways to represent either lineage or violence. For example:
She’s like a sister, but she’s not part of my blood family.
Es como una hermana, pero no es parte de mi familia de sangre.
He gave his blood for his friends.
Dio su sangre por sus amigos.
In that latter case, the word por is used instead of para because the sense is “on behalf of”; he’s not literally giving it to them, or intended for them, but on their behalf.
Our last word is the word for “being”, as a noun, as in “my whole being”. And the word is ser, spelled s-e-r. Of course, this is the same as the infinitive of the verb Ser, but it can be used as a masculine noun to represent someone’s “being”. For example:
She loves him with all her being.
Lo quiere con todo su ser.
This word can also simply refer to “beings”, as in “creatures”. For example:
We found some very strange beings in that place.
We found unos seres muy strange en ese lugar.
Encontramos unos seres muy extraños en ese lugar.
And then we’ll also learn an idiom that uses this word. To say “a loved one”, you’ll actually say un ser querido, literally “a loved being”. We’ve learned querido as the participle of Querer, but querido can also be used as an adjective to mean “loved” or “dear”. Check out this sentence example:
I want to be among my loved ones.
Quiero estar entre mis seres queridos.
And then here’s another use of querido, in this case feminine:
Dear Sara, how nice to have you here!
Querida Sara, ¡qué bueno tenerte aquí!
Let’s practice using ser, querido, sangre, and corazón.
He wants her to give him her heart.
Él quiere que ella le dé su corazón.
Who are the people that are going to donate blood?
¿Quiénes son las personas que van a donate sangre?
¿Quiénes son las personas que van a donar sangre?
She wants to be a doctor with all her being.
Quiere ser doctor con todo su ser.
Quiere ser doctora con todo su ser.
My dear Julia is one of my loved ones.
Mi querida Julia es uno de mis seres queridos.
You give them water because they’re living beings.
Les das water porque son seres vivos.
Les das agua porque son seres vivos.
Remember that you can get more practice with any of this using the free online flashcards here! Or if you’re ready, let’s go on to today’s final quiz.
She doesn’t want us to give her anything for her face.
No quiere que le demos nada para la cara.
He will give that to his mom, who is a loved one.
Le dará eso a su mamá, quien es un ser querido.
Give him more of that because it’s good for his body.
Dale más de eso porque es bueno para el cuerpo.
Many say that you shouldn’t breathe through your mouth.
Muchos dicen que no you should breathe por la boca.
Muchos dicen que no deberías respirar por la boca.
She has given me sunglasses for my eyes.
Me ha dado sunglasses para los ojos.
Me ha dado lentes de sol para los ojos.
I love my family with all my being.
Quiero a mi familia con todo mi ser.
I want them to go for a walk holding hands.
Quiero que den una vuelta holding las manos.
Quiero que den una vuelta tomados de las manos.
You don’t have to give him that one(m), he already has many.
No tienes que darle ese, ya tiene muchos.
Can you give me a hand with the work?
¿Me puedes dar una mano con el trabajo?
My dear brother has something on his face.
Mi querido hermano tiene algo en la cara.
Which of the projects are in Juan’s hands?
¿Cuáles de los projects están en manos de Juan?
¿Cuáles de los proyectos están en manos de Juan?
He hurt his head, but it’s all the same to me.
Se he hurt la cabeza, pero me da lo mismo.
Se lastimó la cabeza, pero me da lo mismo.
She is using her mind to give help to her dear dad.
Está using la mente para darle ayuda a su querido papá.
Está usando la mente para darle ayuda a su querido papá.
My friend gave his heart to his wife.
Mi amigo le dio su corazón a su esposa.
We’re giving you back what you gave us.
Te damos de vuelta lo que nos diste.
He’s giving it everything with all his being.
Lo está dando todo con todo su ser.
I’ll give my daughter a bow for her head.
Le daré a mi hija a bow para la cabeza.
Le daré a mi hija un lazo para la cabeza.
Give me a hand with this, please!
¡Dame una mano con esto, por favor!
The problem is in the hands of the committee, we gave it to them(f).
El problema está en las manos of the committee, se lo dimos a ellas.
El problema está en las manos del comité, se lo dimos a ellas.
If you don’t give him blood, he could die.
Si no le das sangre, podría die.
Si no le das sangre, podría morir.
I’m going to close my eyes to clear my mind.
Voy a close los ojos para clear la mente.
Voy a cerrar los ojos para despejar la mente.
I’m going to take care of my body as long as I’m at that place.
Voy a take care of mi cuerpo mientras esté en ese lugar.
Voy a cuidar mi cuerpo mientras esté en ese lugar.
His sons and daughters are his closest loved ones.
Sus hijos e hijas son sus seres queridos más close.
Sus hijos e hijas son sus seres queridos más cercanos.
You have to donate blood or another thing.
Tienes que donate sangre u otra cosa.
Tienes que donar sangre u otra cosa.
She wants me to give her my heart.
Ella quiere que le dé mi corazón.
Give him one of those!
¡Dale uno de esos!
I gave you good advice before.
Te di good advice antes.
Te di un buen consejo antes.
So now I want you to give it to them(m).
Entonces ahora quiero que se lo des a ellos.
Tell your son to remove his hands from his mouth.
Dile a tu hijo que remove las manos de la boca.
Dile a tu hijo que se saque las manos de la boca.
They are giving you their blood.
Te dan su sangre.
To get more practice with these sentences, join the free course here and quiz yourself with them until you’re acing this. Or tune in for tomorrow’s episode to review everything we’ve learned this week.
This show is brought to you by LearnCraftSpanish.com. Our music was provided by the Seattle Marimba Quartet, and I’m Timothy, encouraging you to do the hard work of learning Spanish. Acquiring a second language is one of the most fulfilling things you can do, so start your fluency journey today using ourfree course — join here.
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