Mandarin: Parts of the body

Here are some words and phrases, so that you can describe yourself or someone else in Mandarin.

Join Scottish pupils as they give Mandarin a go!

Listen and guess what they are saying before trying yourself.

Tip: This video can be used as an interactive introduction to this topic or as a recap on key vocabulary and phrases already learnt.

Remember!

It doesn't matter if your pronunciation isn't perfect. Try your best and have fun!

As well as talking about yourself in terms of your name and age in Mandarin, it can be useful to be able to talk about body parts.

Did you know?

Mandarin does not make any difference between singular and plural, ie you do not add an ‘s’ or change the word form as in ‘mouse’ and ‘mice’.

This means that ‘脚 jiǎo’ means both ‘foot’ and ‘feet’.

You can combine these body parts with the Mandarin phrase 这是 Zhè shì (This is), for example:

这是我的鼻子 Zhè shì wǒ de bí zi - This is my nose

If you want to say a part of your body is hurting, you can add the Mandarin word '疼 téng' (hurt).

For example:

• 我头疼 Wǒ tóu téng - My head hurts

• 我肚子疼 Wǒ dù zi téng - My stomach hurts

• 我眼睛疼 Wǒ yǎn jīng téng - My eyes hurt

When describing parts of the body in Mandarin, you need to know some common adjectives.

So, to say ‘My hair is short’ in Mandarin, you would say:

我的头发短 Wǒ de tóu fa duǎn - My hair is short

You could also use the word 很 hěn (very) in Mandarin before the body part for emphasis.

Hair and eye colour in Mandarin

Some examples for using colours to describe your eyes and hair in Mandarin include:

• 我的眼睛是蓝色的 Wǒ de yǎn jīng shì lán sè de - My eyes are blue

• 我的头发是红色的 Wǒ de tóu fa shì hóng sè de - My hair is red

To learn more about the specifics of colours in Mandarin, click here.

Why not practise what you've learnt by reading Little Red Riding Hood in Mandarin.