Body Parts in Russian
Russian body part vocabulary comes with grammatical gender, case changes, and a few irregular plurals — but also with clear patterns that make learning manageable. This guide covers all the essential body parts in Cyrillic with gender, pronunciation, and the key phrase у меня болит... that lets you describe any pain in a medical situation.
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Head and Face (Голова и Лицо)
The gender is shown with the article-like marker: (м) for masculine, (ж) for feminine, (с) for neuter. Russian does not use articles like "the" or "a," but gender affects adjective endings and case forms.
Notice the irregular plural: ухо → уши (ear/ears) completely changes its stem. Also, глаз → глаза (eye/eyes) shifts stress from the first syllable to the last. Russian hair (волосы) is always plural, similar to Italian capelli.
Upper Body (Верхняя Часть Тела)
Many upper body words in Russian cover broader areas than their English equivalents. Pay special attention to рука, which means both "arm" and "hand."
Рука means both "arm" and "hand" in everyday Russian. For precision, кисть (kist') specifies the hand area, and предплечье (predplech'ye) means forearm. Similarly, палец covers both finger and toe — specify with палец руки (finger) or палец ноги (toe).
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Lower Body (Нижняя Часть Тела)
Expressing Pain: У меня болит...
The essential medical phrase pattern in Russian:
- У меня болит голова. (u menya bolit golova) — My head hurts.
- У меня болит живот. (u menya bolit zhivot) — My stomach hurts.
- У меня болит горло. (u menya bolit gorlo) — My throat hurts.
- У меня болят глаза. (u menya bolyat glaza) — My eyes hurt. (plural)
- У меня болят зубы. (u menya bolyat zuby) — My teeth hurt. (plural)
- У меня болит спина. (u menya bolit spina) — My back hurts.
The verb болеть (to hurt/ache) has two forms: болит for singular body parts and болят for plural. The body part stays in the nominative case because grammatically it is the subject doing the hurting. У меня (by me) indicates who feels the pain.
Case Changes in Practice
Body parts change form in different grammatical contexts. Here are the most common patterns:
- Nominative (subject): Голова болит. (The head hurts.)
- Accusative (direct object): Я мою руки. (I wash [my] hands.)
- Prepositional (location): У меня на руке кольцо. (I have a ring on [my] hand.)
Frequently Asked Questions
What genders are body parts in Russian?
Russian body parts can be masculine, feminine, or neuter. Some reliable patterns: words ending in a consonant are usually masculine (нос, рот, глаз), words ending in -а/-я are usually feminine (голова, спина, рука), and words ending in -о/-е are usually neuter (плечо, колено). There are exceptions, so always learn the gender with the word.
How do you say "my head hurts" in Russian?
The most common way is У меня болит голова (u menya bolit golova), literally "By me hurts head." For plural body parts, use болят: У меня болят глаза (my eyes hurt). The body part is in the nominative case because it is the grammatical subject of "hurts."
Do body parts change form in Russian sentences?
Yes. Russian nouns change form (decline) through six grammatical cases. For body parts, the most important cases are: nominative (subject: голова болит), accusative (direct object: я мою руки), genitive (possession: боль в области головы), and prepositional (location: на руке, on the hand).
What is the difference between рука and кисть?
Рука covers the entire upper limb from shoulder to fingertips — it means both "arm" and "hand" depending on context. Кисть specifically means "hand/wrist area." Similarly, нога means both "leg" and "foot," while ступня specifically means "foot/sole." In everyday speech, рука and нога are used far more often.
Are there Russian body part words with irregular plurals?
Several body parts have irregular or notable plurals: глаз → глаза (eye/eyes, stress shifts), ухо → уши (ear/ears, completely different stem), плечо → плечи (shoulder/shoulders), колено → колени (knee/knees). These are among the most common irregular plurals in Russian and must be memorized individually.