Anatomy in Chinese: Useful Vocabulary

When visiting the doctor, practising sports, or shopping, knowing your body parts in Chinese may help you. While you can use an online dictionary app to look up translations on the fly, there are often many ways to say the English word in Mandarin, and some of the words that pop up in the search are only used in particular contexts, making it difficult to choose the right one.

You need to consult an online Chinese tutor to learn how to use the anatomy vocabulary you have learned. Thanks to online tutoring, you can learn to form sentences with vocabulary and use them fluently.

General body parts vocabulary

• 身体 / shēn tǐ / body
• 皮肤 / pí fū /  skin
• 肌肉 / jī ròu / muscle(s)
• 骨头 / gǔ tou / bone(s)
• 关节 / guān jié / joints 
• 脉络 / màiluò / veins

Head and face vocabulary

• 头 / tóu / head 
• 头发 / tóu fa / hair (on head)
• 大脑 / dà nǎo / brain
• 脸 / liǎn / face
• 额头 / é tóu / forehead
• 眼睛 (yǎn jing) - eye(s)
• 鼻子 / bí zi / nose
• 脸颊 / liǎn jiá / cheek
• 耳朵 / ěr duo / ear(s)
• 嘴 / zuǐ / mouth
• 嘴唇 / zuǐ chún / lip(s)
• 牙齿 / yá chǐ / tooth
• 舌头 / shé tou / tongue
• 喉咙 / hóu long / throat

Upper body vocabulary 

• 心脏 / xīn zàng / heart
• 肝 / gān / liver
• 肺 / fèi / lung(s)
• 胃 / wèi / stomach
• 脖子 / bó zi / neck
• 背 / bèi / back
• 胸  / xiōng / chest
• 肚子 / dù zi / abdomen
• 肩膀 / jiān bǎng / shoulder(s)
• 胳膊 / gē bo / arm(s)
• 手 / shǒu / hand(s)
• 手指 / shǒu zhǐ / finger(s)
• 指甲 / zhǐ jia / fingernail(s)

Lower body vocabulary

• 腿 / tuǐ / leg(s)
• 膝盖 / xī gài / knee(s)
• 脚 / jiǎo / foot
• 脚脖子 / jiǎo bó zi / ankle(s)
• 脚趾 / jiǎo zhǐ / toe(s)
• 脚趾甲 / jiǎo zhǐ jiǎ / toenail(s)

The word form for ‘mouse’ and ‘mice’ is the same in Mandarin. Therefore, there is no distinction between single and plural. For example, 脚 jiǎo’ means both ‘foot’ and ‘feet’.