Here are 50 Italian words for the body and for being ill, from la testa to il cerotto. Learn five first: la testa (head), il medico (doctor), la farmacia (pharmacy), malato (ill) and fare male (to hurt). Watch the plurals: il braccio becomes le braccia, il dito le dita and il ginocchio le ginocchia.
- Words
- 50: the body, illness and treatment
- Variety
- Standard Italian
- Level
- A1–A2
- Read them in
- Contos stories (chapters 1–2 free)
50 Italian words for the body and health
Body parts are listed in the singular with their article. Several have an irregular plural, shown in the next section. This is the health pack the Contos web app uses for flashcard review.
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| il corpo | body |
| la testa | head |
| il viso | face |
| il naso | nose |
| la bocca | mouth |
| il dente | tooth |
| l'orecchio | ear |
| il collo | neck |
| la schiena | back |
| il braccio | arm |
| la gamba | leg |
| il piede | foot |
| lo stomaco | stomach |
| la pelle | skin |
| il sangue | blood |
| il dolore | pain |
| il mal di testa | headache |
| la febbre | fever |
| il raffreddore | common cold |
| la tosse | cough |
| l'influenza | flu |
| l'allergia | allergy |
| la medicina | medicine |
| la pillola | pill |
| la farmacia | pharmacy |
| l'ospedale | hospital |
| il medico | doctor |
| l'infermiere | nurse |
| l'appuntamento | appointment |
| la ricetta | prescription |
| l'emergenza | emergency |
| la ferita | injury |
| malato | ill |
| sano | healthy |
| stanco | tired |
| fare male | to hurt |
| riposare | to rest |
| respirare | to breathe |
| il sonno | sleep |
| l'esercizio fisico | exercise |
| l'occhio | eye |
| il cuore | heart |
| il mal di denti | toothache |
| la salute | health |
| il dentista | dentist |
| il dito | finger |
| il ginocchio | knee |
| starnutire | to sneeze |
| il petto | chest |
| il cerotto | sticking plaster |
Why is it le braccia? Body parts with irregular plurals
A handful of body parts are masculine in the singular but take a feminine plural ending in -a, with le. The -a goes back to Latin neuter plurals, and most of these words are parts that come in pairs or sets.
| Singular | Plural | English |
|---|---|---|
| il braccio | le braccia | arm, arms |
| il dito | le dita | finger, fingers |
| il ginocchio | le ginocchia (also i ginocchi) | knee, knees |
| l'orecchio | le orecchie (also gli orecchi) | ear, ears |
| l'osso | le ossa | bone, bones |
| il labbro | le labbra | lip, lips |
| la mano | le mani | hand, hands |
| l'occhio | gli occhi | eye, eyes (regular, for comparison) |
Adjectives follow the plural, so tired arms are le braccia stanche, feminine. La mano is the reverse oddity: feminine although it ends in -o, with the plural le mani.
Accanto a lui c'è una donna con gli occhi chiari e un bambino piccolo tra le braccia.Atterra sulle ginocchia di Giulia con un rumore secco.How do you say what hurts? Mi fa male and ho mal di
Italian has two common patterns. With fare male, the part that hurts is the subject, so the verb goes plural for plural body parts. With avere mal di, you "have pain of" a body part, with no article.
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| mi fa male la testa | my head hurts |
| mi fanno male i piedi | my feet hurt |
| ti fa male la schiena? | does your back hurt? |
| ho mal di testa | I have a headache |
| ho mal di denti | I have toothache |
| ho mal di gola | I have a sore throat |
| mi sono fatto male al ginocchio | I've hurt my knee |
Italian uses the article, not "my", with body parts when it is clear whose they are: mi lavo le mani (I wash my hands), mi sono rotto il braccio (I broke my arm). For a stomach ache, ho mal di pancia is the everyday phrase; lo stomaco is the word in the list and sounds a little more medical.
Febbre, tosse and raffreddore take the article
English says "I have a temperature", with a. Italian says ho la febbre, ho la tosse, ho il raffreddore and ho l'influenza, with the definite article.
At the doctor's and the pharmacy
Your family doctor in Italy is il medico di base (or medico di famiglia); you address one as dottore or dottoressa. Medicine comes from la farmacia, marked by a green cross. Hospital A&E is il pronto soccorso, and the European emergency number 112 works across Italy.
Non mi sento bene.
I don't feel well.
Ho la febbre e la tosse.
I have a temperature and a cough.
Ha qualcosa per il mal di gola?
Do you have anything for a sore throat?
Ha, the polite Lei form, is what you use with a pharmacist.
Vorrei prendere un appuntamento con il medico.
I'd like to make an appointment with the doctor.
Sono allergico alla penicillina.
I'm allergic to penicillin.
A woman says allergica.
Two words in the list to check
- la ricetta is a prescription and also a recipe. Ask serve la ricetta? at the pharmacy to find out if you need one.
- la ferita (the pack's word for injury) is the everyday word for a cut or wound. A sports or work injury is un infortunio, la lesione is a medical or legal term, and "I've hurt myself" is mi sono fatto male.
Contos stories use the recipe meaning more than the medical one. In this A2 mystery, someone has been changing a family recipe book in the night:
Ieri sera la ricetta del pane toscano diceva: "Un cucchiaio di sale."From The Secret Recipe Book of Bakers' Street, chapter 1 (A2)
Meet these words in a story: tap any word in a Contos chapter to see what it means, and save the ones you want to keep.
Read free in your browserFrequently asked questions
How do you say "I have a headache" in Italian?
Ho mal di testa, or mi fa male la testa ("the head hurts me"). For more than one body part, the verb goes plural: mi fanno male le gambe, my legs hurt.
What is the plural of braccio?
Le braccia. Braccio is masculine in the singular but its usual plural is feminine and ends in -a. Dito (le dita), ginocchio (le ginocchia), labbro (le labbra) and osso (le ossa) work the same way.
What is the emergency number in Italy?
112, the European emergency number, works across Italy. At the hospital, A&E is il pronto soccorso. For something that can wait, see your medico di base or ask at a farmacia.
Does ricetta mean recipe or prescription?
Both. La ricetta is a recipe in the kitchen and a prescription at the doctor's: il medico mi ha fatto la ricetta means the doctor wrote me a prescription. Context makes it clear.