The human body

When it is clear who owns the part of the body mentioned, French tends to use the definite article where English uses a possessive adjective :

he raised his hand

= il a levé la main

she closed her eyes

= elle a fermé les yeux

Note, for instance, the use of la and mon here :

she ran her hand over my forehead

= elle a passé la main sur mon front

For expressions such as he hurt his foot or she hit her head on the beam, where the owner of the body part is the subject of the verb, i.e. the person doing the action, use a reflexive verb in French :

she has broken her leg

= elle s’est cassé la jambe

(literally she has broken to herself the leg - there is no past participle agreement because the preceding reflexive pronoun se is the indirect object).

he was rubbing his hands

= il se frottait les mains

she was holding her head

= elle se tenait la tête

Note also the following :

she broke his leg

= elle lui a cassé la jambe

(literally she broke to him the leg)

the stone split his lip

= le caillou lui a fendu la lèvre

(literally the stone split to him the lip)

Describing people

For ways of saying how tall someone is ⇒ Length measurement ; of stating someone’s weight ⇒ Weight measurement ; and of talking about the colour of hair and eyes ⇒ Colours.

Here are some ways of describing people in French :

his hair is long

= il a les cheveux longs

he has long hair

= il a les cheveux longs

a boy with long hair

= un garçon aux cheveux longs

a long-haired boy

= un garçon aux cheveux longs

the boy with long hair

= le garçon aux cheveux longs

her eyes are blue

= elle a les yeux bleus

she has blue eyes

= elle a les yeux bleus

she is blue-eyed

= elle a les yeux bleus

the girl with blue eyes

= la fille aux yeux bleus

a blue-eyed girl

= une fille aux yeux bleus

his nose is red

= il a le nez rouge

he has a red nose

= il a le nez rouge

a man with a red nose

= un homme au nez rouge

a red-nosed man

= un homme au nez rouge

When referring to a temporary state, the following phrases are useful :

his leg is broken

= il a la jambe cassée

the man with the broken leg

= l’homme à la jambe cassée

but note

a man with a broken leg

= un homme avec une jambe cassée

Big English-French dictionary. 2003.