The human body

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.

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