Dutch Words for Parts of the Body

Dutch Words for Parts of the Body Posted by sarah on May 11, 2010 in Dutch Language

It seems like such a simple little thing, but being able to name the parts of your own body can quickly become very important in an emergency. Say for instance I fall off of my bicycle and I need help fast. I can’t be guaranteed that the person running to help me speaks English, and I need to tell that person where it hurts. Hopefully it’s just my knee, but if it’s my head, I need to be able to tell them quickly so we can get an ambulance or doctor. Even outside of emergency situations, it’s still important when you’re going to the doctor, or trying on clothes, or talking about some attractive person you saw walking down the street…See, there are plenty of uses for these words!

het lichaam : the body
het hoofd : the head
het haar : the hair
het oog : the eye
het ooglid : the eyelid
de wimper : the eyelash
de neus : the nose
de wang : the cheek
de mond : the mouth
de lip : the lip
de tong : the tongue
de kin : the chin
de schouder : the shoulder
de nek/de hals : the neck
de arm : the arm
de hand : the hand
de vinger : the finger
de nagel : the nail
de duim : the thumb
de wijsvinger : the pointer finger
de middelvinger : the middle finger
de ringvinger : the ring finger
de pink: the pinkie
de rug : the back
de borst : the breast/chest
de buik : the stomach
het achterwerk/de billen/de kont : the behind/butt
het been : the leg
de knie : the knee
de voet : the foot
de teen : the toe

Tags: body parts, vocabulary

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Comments:

Tiffany:

Great post! Knowing this vocabulary sure helped me during my surprise emergency visit when I fell down the stairs. Just one thing… it’s het knie. Knee is the English spelling. I really enjoy this blog and have learned a lot from it – thanks!
- sarah:
  
  @Tiffany Thanks Marjolijn, I updated the post.
  
  And thanks for your comment Tiffany. Very sorry to hear you had an accident! I learned a new word last week, de voedselvergiftiging: the food poisoning. I don’t think I’ll be forgetting that word soon…
  
  Groetjes!
Marjolijn:

To correct the above it is De Knie
Tiffany:

Marjolijn – Always great to have a native Dutch speaker around. I am absolutely terrible with articles!

Sara – that’s a good word too! I’ll have to remember that one (what a mouthfull though!).
- sarah:
  
  @Tiffany The articles are just terrible, aren’t they? I even write everything with a dictionary, check, double-check, and still manage to post it wrong. Sigh…
  
  And although it is a useful word, I hope you never find a reason to use it.

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