German words for the body and health: 50 words

50 German words for the body and health

Nouns are listed with their article. Two entries, die Kopfschmerzen and die Zahnschmerzen, are marked (pl.) because they are plurals, which is how Germans normally use them; the die there is the plural article, not a sign that the words are feminine. This is the health pack the Contos web app uses for flashcard review.

How do you say what hurts in German?

German has two everyday patterns. The first uses the separable verb wehtun, with the body part as the subject and the person in the dative: Mir tut der Kopf weh (my head hurts, literally "to me the head hurts"). With a plural body part the verb is plural: Mir tun die Füße weh.

The second adds -schmerzen (pains) to the body part and uses haben: Ich habe Kopfschmerzen. These compounds are almost always plural.

The body: der Kopf, not mein Kopf

With body parts German often uses the definite article where English uses my or his: Ich wasche mir die Hände (I wash my hands), Er hebt den Arm (he raises his arm). You will see it constantly in stories:

Plurals to know: das Auge → die Augen, das Ohr → die Ohren, der Zahn → die Zähne, der Fuß → die Füße, die Hand → die Hände, das Bein → die Beine. Das Knie and der Finger stay the same. In Knie, both the k and the n are pronounced.

At the doctor's and the Apotheke

Job titles change for women with -in, and here the vowel changes too: der Arzt → die Ärztin, der Zahnarzt → die Zahnärztin. You go zum Arzt (to the doctor's) and usually need einen Termin (an appointment) first.

Medicine comes from the Apotheke

In Germany even everyday painkillers are sold in die Apotheke, the pharmacy, not in the supermarket. A Drogerie sells plasters, vitamins and toiletries, but not most medicines. Pharmacies are easy to spot by their red A sign.

Rezept: a prescription, or a recipe

Das Rezept in the list is a prescription, but it is also the everyday word for a recipe. Context tells you which. In a bakery story it is always the second:

Which health words in the list need a second look?

A few entries are correct but narrower or wider than the English suggests.

• The list gives both forms for nurse: der Krankenpfleger for a man, die Krankenpflegerin for a woman. Many people still say die Krankenschwester for a female nurse, and the official title since 2020 is Pflegefachfrau or Pflegefachmann.
• die Bewegung is exercise in the sense of moving your body: Sie brauchen mehr Bewegung (you need more exercise). Working out is Sport machen, and an exercise in a textbook is die Übung.
• die Gesundheit is health, and also what you say when someone sneezes (niesen): Gesundheit!
• die Brust is the chest and also a breast. das Pflaster is a sticking plaster and also the paving on a street.
• müde is tired and gesund is healthy, but Ich bin fertig is what people say when they are worn out.

If you need help fast, Notfall is the word for an emergency, and 112 is the number for an ambulance across Germany and the EU.