el cuerpo

El cuerpo

Imagine you were in a Spanish speaking country and got sick or had an accident. Could you tell the doctor what body parts hurt?

Or imagine you met the person of your dreams and s/he speaks only Spanish. Could you compliment her/his body parts?

You'll be able to do both after this section.

Put this vocabulary in your notebook. If you are not sure exactly what a picture represents, look it up! Make flashcards and do the regular flashcard activities.

la barbilla
la boca
los brazos (el brazo)
la cabeza
la cara
los codos (el codo)
el cuello
los dedos (el dedo)
los dedos de pie (el dedo...)
los dientes (el diente)
la espalda
el estómago
la garganta
los hombros (el hombro)
los labios (el labio)
las manos (la mano)
las muñecas (la muñeca)
la nariz
los ojos
las orejas (la oreja)
el pecho
los pies (el pie)
el piel
las piernas (la pierna)
los pulgares (el pulgar)
las rodillas (la rodilla)
el trasero
el tronco

Una sugestión: Draw a picture of a human body and practice naming the parts until you master the vocabulary.

Do one of the following: (or both if you really want to learn!)

Create a "monstruo". Find pictures of different body parts- as if you were Dr. Frankenstein gathering body parts- and put them all together to create the "monstruo". When you are finished with the creation, compose a description of your work. Use "Tiene" + the body part + the adjective. (As you did in descrptions of hair, eyes and face). "Tiene la mano muy grande con mucho pelo."

Do as you directed above, but instead of creating a monster, create an «estrella de las películas».

¡Cantemos!
(Let's sing!)

There are some good "body" songs in English that can be sung also in Spanish. You probably laready know the tunes,. so all you have to do now is learn the new lyrics.

«Cabeza, hombros, piernas, pies»
(Sung to "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes")

Don't forget the actions of the song- use both hands to touch the body parts as you sing.

Cabeza, hombros piernas pies, piernas, pies.
Cabeza, hombros piernas pies, piernas, pies.
Ojos, nariz, boca y orejas.
Cabeza, hombros piernas pies, piernas, pies.

«El Joki-Poki»
(Sung to the "Hokey- Pokey")

Sing and dance as you are supposed to, and you can put in your own body parts. The only thihg you can't do in the Spanish version is declare right or left. Notice that muévela" is used with a "la" word, and "muévelo" is used with an "el" word.

Pon la mano adentro,
pon la mano afuera.
Pon la mano adentro y muévela.
Haz el joki-poki y ponte a girar.
¡Esto es lo que es!

Pon el pie adentro,
Pon el pie afuera.
Pon el pie adentro y muévelo.
Haz el joki-poki y ponte a girar.
¡Esto es lo que es!

Add your own verses- la nariz, el estómago, la cara, el ojo, el codo, etc.

El cuerpo mío
(Sung to "Them bones" [The hip bone's connected to the leg bone, etc.])

As you sing this, point to the body part. When you sing the "Esto es el cuerpo mío", stand up tall and spread your arms as if you were showing everyone how proud you are of yourself.

La cabeza va al cuello.
El cuello a los hombros.
Los hombros van a l brazo.
Esto es el cuerpo mío.

Los brazos tienen los codos.
Bajo a las muñecas.
Y vamos a las manos.
Esto es el cuerpo mío.

Las manos tienen pulgares.
También tienen los dedos.
Regresemos a los hombros.
Esto es el cuerpo mío.

Los hombros van a ltronco.
El tronco tiene el pecho.
También tiene el estómago.
Esto es el cuerpo mío.

Tras vamos a la espalda.
Bajamos al trasero.
El trasero a las piernas.
Esto es el cuerpo mío.

Las piernas tienen rodillas.
Pues vamos a los pies.
Los pies tienen dedos también.
¡Esto es el cuerpo mío!

Vocabulary check: Use the following pictures to quiz yourself. To practice a useful phrase, which you are about to study shortly, say "Me duele" (...hurts[me]) before naming the body part. (Me duele la cabeza= My head hurts.) Click on the picture to check with the pictures above to see if you are correct. (The answer will be the word at the top of the page.)

Enlaces
Click to study, practice, learn more vocabulary

Click here to study the human body

Click here for internal organs

¡Conversemos!

Now it's time to use this vocabulary in a setting that might some day be real for you. Imagine you are in a Spanish-speaking country and become ill or have an accident. You have to communicate your ills to the doctor. (Actually this happened to a student of mine years ago on a trip to Mexico. I was not allowed to be with him in the doctor's office, but he did very well communicating with the docotr at the clinic all on his own.)

The following are some expressions which you should know and understand as well as be able to use.

What the médico/médica might ask

¿Qué tienes?	What do you have? What's wrong?
¿Qué te duele?	What hurts?
¿Qué te pasó?	What happened?
¿Tienes dolor?	Are you in pain?

What you might say

Estoy enfermo (a)	I'm sick.
Estoy mal.	I'm not well.
Tengo fiebre.	I have a fever.
Tengo catarro (la gripe).	I have a bad cold (the flu).
Estoy resfriado(a)	I have a cold.
Tuve un accidente.	I had an accident.
Caí de...(mi bicicleta, un árbol, etc.).	I fell from ..(mi bike, a tree, etc.).
(Un coche, Un autobús, etc.) me pegó.	(A car, a bus, etc.) hit me.
Tengo dolor de...(estómago, cabeza, garganta, etc.)	I have a (headache, sore throat, stomachache, etc.)
Me duele[n]...(el brazo, la nariz, los dientes, etc.)	My (arm, nose, teeth, etc.) hurts

Now create some dialogues in which you get to play the role of patient (accident and illness) and doctor. Hopefully you'll never have to actually use thiws vocabulary, but it would be better to be prepared in case it ever were necessary.

Studyspanish.com has a pretty good section for «cuidado médico». Go check it out!

Now you should have a good handle on body parts, and expressing some medical concerns.

¡Adiós!