Welcome to Unit 9 — health and the body! Today you'll learn the names of the main body parts in Brazilian Portuguese. Beatriz is teaching a class of children at a community center, and you'll hear the famous kids' song 'cabeça, ombro, joelho e pé' — the Brazilian version of 'head, shoulders, knees and toes'. By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to point at any part of your body and name it — and you'll also learn a key habit: Portuguese uses definite articles with body parts, unlike English. Vamos lá!
Learning tips
- Portuguese uses definite articles with body parts — 'I wash my hands' = 'Eu lavo **as** mãos' (literally 'I wash the hands'). Don't translate word-for-word from English.
- The plural of 'mão' is irregular — **mãos** (not 'mões'). The '-ão → -ãos' pattern applies to a few nouns (mão, irmão, cidadão).
- 'Olho' changes its vowel sound in the plural: singular /ˈo.ʎu/ (closed o), plural **os olhos** /ˈɔ.ʎus/ (open o). This is a classic metaphony pattern.
- Each body part has a fixed gender — memorize the article with the word: 'a cabeça' (f), 'o braço' (m), 'o pé' (m), 'a mão' (f).
Warm-up & Active Recall
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| a praia | the beach |
| o samba | the samba |
| a roda de samba | the samba circle |
| o mar | the sea |
| a areia | the sand |
| o sol | the sun |
| aproveitar | to enjoy |
| curtir | to have fun / enjoy (informal) |
| relaxar | to relax |
| combinar | to agree / match up |
Dialog
Beatriz is teaching at a community center in Santa Teresa — a class of children learning the parts of the body. Thiago stops by to help. Listen for how Beatriz uses the definite article with every body part ('a cabeça', 'o braço', 'a mão'), and how she counts — 'duas mãos', 'dois pés', 'dois olhos'. The lesson ends with the classic Brazilian children's song 'cabeça, ombro, joelho e pé' — the equivalent of the English 'head, shoulders, knees and toes'.
Vocabulary
Active words
| Word | IPA | Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| a cabeça | /a kaˈbe.sɐ/ | the head | Feminine. Stress on 'be' — /kaˈbe.sɐ/ |
| o braço | /u ˈbɾa.su/ | the arm | Masculine. Plural 'os braços' |
| a mão | /a ˈmɐ̃w̃/ | the hand | Feminine — irregular plural 'as mãos' |
| a perna | /a ˈpɛʁ.nɐ/ | the leg | Feminine. 'Em pé' (literally 'on foot') means 'standing up' |
| o pé | /u ˈpɛ/ | the foot | Masculine. Plural 'os pés' — keeps the accent |
| o olho | /u ˈo.ʎu/ | the eye | Masc. Closed /o/ in singular, open /ɔ/ in the plural 'os olhos' |
| a boca | /a ˈbo.kɐ/ | the mouth | Feminine. Plural 'as bocas' |
| o nariz | /u naˈɾis/ | the nose | Masculine. Plural 'os narizes' (-z → -zes) |
| o dente | /u ˈdẽ.tʃi/ | the tooth | Masculine. Plural 'os dentes' |
| o cabelo | /u kaˈbe.lu/ | the hair | Masculine — in Portuguese 'hair' is singular even for a whole head of hair |
Passive words
| Word | IPA | Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| a orelha | /a oˈɾe.ʎɐ/ | the ear (outer, the visible part) | The flap — what you can see |
| o ouvido | /u oˈvi.du/ | the ear (inner, for hearing) | What you hear with — used for 'my ear hurts' if hearing is affected |
| o ombro | /u ˈõ.bɾu/ | the shoulder | Masculine — appears in the kids' song |
| o joelho | /u ʒoˈe.ʎu/ | the knee | Masculine — /ʒoˈe.ʎu/ with 'lh' like 'lli' in 'million' |
| o cotovelo | /u ko.toˈve.lu/ | the elbow | Masculine — 5-syllable mouthful: co-to-ve-lo |
| o pescoço | /u pesˈko.su/ | the neck | Masculine |
Useful chunks
| Word | Translation |
|---|---|
| as partes do corpo | the parts of the body |
| cabeça, ombro, joelho e pé | head, shoulder, knee and foot (the kids' song) |
Grammar: Body parts with definite articles; plural formation
| Singular | Plural | Observação |
|---|---|---|
| a cabeça | as cabeças | +s regular |
| o braço | os braços | +s regular |
| a mão | as mãos | -ão → -ãos (irregular) |
| a perna | as pernas | +s regular |
| o pé | os pés | +s (acento no é) |
| o olho | os olhos | som aberto no plural: /ˈɔ.ʎus/ |
| a boca | as bocas | +s regular |
| o nariz | os narizes | -z → -zes |
| o dente | os dentes | +s regular |
| o cabelo | os cabelos | +s regular |
Dica importante: Em português, usamos o artigo definido com partes do corpo — 'Eu lavo as mãos' (não 'eu lavo minhas mãos' como no inglês). Também usamos para dizer onde dói: 'Dói a cabeça' (a cabeça dói).
Brazilian Portuguese treats body parts a little differently from English in two key ways: definite articles and plural formation.
Rule 1: Use the definite article with body parts.
Where English says 'I wash my hands', Portuguese says 'Eu lavo as mãos' (I wash the hands). The article replaces the possessive when it's obvious whose body you're talking about. You'll also use it to say where it hurts: 'Dói a cabeça' (literally 'hurts the head' = 'my head hurts').
Rule 2: Plural formation has some irregularities.
| Singular | Plural | Pattern |
|---|---|---|
| a cabeça | as cabeças | +s (regular) |
| o braço | os braços | +s (regular) |
| a mão | as mãos | -ão → -ãos (irregular — only a few words) |
| a perna | as pernas | +s (regular) |
| o pé | os pés | +s (keeps accent) |
| o olho | os olhos | +s BUT vowel opens: /ˈɔ.ʎus/ |
| a boca | as bocas | +s (regular) |
| o nariz | os narizes | -z → -zes |
| o dente | os dentes | +s (regular) |
| o cabelo | os cabelos | +s (regular) |
Tip: When you learn a body part, always learn it with its article — 'a cabeça', not just 'cabeça'. The gender is fixed and doesn't follow obvious rules (the head is feminine, the arm is masculine).
Exercises
Fill in the Blanks
Complete each sentence with the missing body part.
- Eu tenho dois e duas mãos.(plural — what you pick things up with at the end of your arms? no, on the arms themselves)
- Eu tenho uma e dois olhos.(what you speak with — one of them)
- Dentro da boca, temos os .(plural — what's inside the mouth)
- Eu escuto música com os .(plural — what you listen to music with)
- O da Bia é encaracolado.(what's on top of your head — can be curly)
Grammar Application — Plurals
Form the plural of each body part, including the article.
- Singular → Plural: o braço → (regular +s)
- Singular → Plural: a mão → (irregular — ão → ãos)
- Singular → Plural: o pé → (keeps the accent)
- Singular → Plural: o nariz → (z → zes)
- Complete com artigo: cabeça(definite article — feminine singular)
Translation (English → Portuguese)
Translate each sentence. Remember: use definite articles with body parts.
- I have two hands and two feet.
- The eyes and the mouth.
- She has curly hair.
- My arm is big.
- The teeth are white.
Creative Construction
Describe a person's body using at least six of the words from this lesson. Try writing a mini 'Simon says' game using body parts.
Takeaway
Use definite articles with body parts ('a cabeça', 'o braço', 'as mãos'). Key irregularities: 'a mão → as mãos', 'o nariz → os narizes', and 'o olho → os olhos' (open o in plural).