In European Portuguese the main body parts include a cabeça (head), o braço (arm), a perna (leg), a mão (hand) and o pé (foot). To say something hurts, use dói-me, as in dói-me a cabeça. At the doctor, estou doente means I am ill, and estou constipado means I have a cold, not constipated.
Body-part words are among the first you can really use: pointing to where it hurts, describing a child's symptom, or getting the right medicine at a pharmacy. Most of them are quick to learn, and many look close to Spanish or French words you may already know.
Almost every body part is the same word in Portugal and Brazil, so a list from either variety works. The differences that matter are at the doctor, where one everyday word, constipado, means two opposite things in the two countries.
Key takeaways
- The main body parts in Portugal include a cabeça (head), o braço (arm), a perna (leg), a mão (hand) and o pé (foot).
- To say something hurts, Portugal uses dói-me plus the body part, as in dói-me a cabeça for my head hurts.
- In Portugal estou constipado means I have a cold, while the same words mean constipated in Brazilian Portuguese.
- Body-part words are almost all shared with Brazil, so the real differences sit at the doctor, like constipado and penso rápido.
What are the main body parts?
These are the body parts you will reach for most often, from head to foot. Portuguese gives each word a gender, shown here by o for masculine and a for feminine, so it is worth learning the article together with the word.
| English | European Portuguese |
|---|---|
| Head | a cabeça |
| Hair | o cabelo |
| Eye | o olho |
| Ear | a orelha |
| Nose | o nariz |
| Mouth | a boca |
| Throat | a garganta |
| Neck | o pescoço |
| Shoulder | o ombro |
| Arm | o braço |
| Hand | a mão |
| Chest | o peito |
| Back | as costas |
| Stomach | a barriga |
| Leg | a perna |
| Knee | o joelho |
| Foot | o pé |
A few plurals are irregular and worth noting. A mão (hand) becomes as mãos, and o pé (foot) becomes os pés. Back is a special case: as costas is always plural in Portuguese, even for one person's back.
Ear has two words, and the difference is useful. A orelha is the outer ear you can see, while o ouvido is the inner ear and your hearing, so an earache is dói-me o ouvido. Getting that pair right saves confusion at the doctor.
How do you say something hurts?
The usual way to say a part hurts is dói-me plus the body part. Dói-me a cabeça means my head hurts, and dói-me a barriga means my stomach hurts. Dói is the verb, from doer, and me means to me.
When more than one part hurts, dói becomes doem. Doem-me os pés means my feet hurt. You can also use tenho dor de, as in tenho dor de cabeça for I have a headache, which lines up neatly with the English phrase.
The order dói-me, with me attached after the verb, is the Portugal pattern. Brazilian Portuguese usually puts the pronoun first, as in me dói, or rephrases with está a doer. The attached form is one more marker of the Portuguese spoken in Portugal. See where object pronouns go for the full rule.
What do you say at the doctor?
A doctor is o médico or a médica, and you book a visit with marcar uma consulta, a consulta being the appointment itself. In Portugal, routine care often starts at a centro de saúde, the local public health centre, rather than with a private doctor.
| English | European Portuguese |
|---|---|
| I am ill | estou doente |
| My head hurts | dói-me a cabeça |
| I have a fever | tenho febre |
| I have a cough | tenho tosse |
| I have a sore throat | dói-me a garganta |
| I feel sick | estou enjoado |
| I need to see a doctor | preciso de ir ao médico |
A farmácia, the pharmacy, is the first stop for minor complaints in Portugal and can sell many medicines without a receita, a prescription. For anything urgent, o hospital has an urgência, which is the accident and emergency department.
What changes in European Portuguese?
Body-part words are almost entirely shared with Brazil, so a word list from either variety will serve you. The differences that matter sit at the doctor, and one of them is a genuine trap worth learning early.
In Portugal, estou constipado means I have a cold. In Brazil the same word means constipated, so a Brazilian course can leave you saying the wrong thing in a pharmacy. To talk about a cold in Portugal you say estou constipado, or tenho uma constipação for the illness itself.
| Portugal | Brazil | English |
|---|---|---|
| estou constipado | estou resfriado | I have a cold |
| uma constipação | um resfriado | a cold |
| penso rápido | curativo | a plaster |
A small adhesive bandage is a penso rápido in Portugal, where Brazil says curativo. These doctor and pharmacy words are where Portugal and Brazil part company, while the body parts themselves stay the same on both sides.
How do you practise this out loud?
Reading a body part off a list is easy. Naming the right part the moment something hurts, with the correct gender and the dói-me pattern, is what only speaking practice builds. The vocabulary is small, so the real task is turning it into speech.
This is where Fluentus fits. Fluentus teaches the Portuguese spoken in Portugal only, and its AI tutor holds spoken conversations with you 24 hours a day in a real human voice. You describe a symptom out loud, and the tutor corrects both the word and the way you use it.
Fluentus runs courses from A1 to B2 with smart flashcards built from your own conversations, on iOS and Android. If you are just starting, how to learn European Portuguese from scratch lays out a first path. For the wider word gap, see how European Portuguese differs from Brazilian.
In one sentence: learn the body parts with their gender, say dói-me plus the part when something hurts, and remember that in Portugal constipado means a cold, not constipated.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say body parts in European Portuguese?
The main body parts are a cabeça for head, o braço for arm, a mão for hand, a perna for leg and o pé for foot. Other everyday words are o nariz for nose, a boca for mouth, os olhos for eyes and as costas for back, which is always plural in Portuguese.
Does constipado mean constipated in Portuguese?
No, not in Portugal. In the Portuguese spoken in Portugal, estou constipado means I have a cold. In Brazilian Portuguese the same word means constipated, so it is a classic false friend. To say you have a cold in Brazil, you say estou resfriado or estou gripado instead.
How do you say something hurts in Portugal Portuguese?
To say something hurts, Portugal uses dói-me followed by the body part, as in dói-me a cabeça for my head hurts or dói-me a garganta for my throat hurts. For more than one part, the verb becomes doem, as in doem-me as costas for my back hurts.
What do you say to book a doctor's appointment?
To book an appointment, you say quero marcar uma consulta, which means I would like to book an appointment. In Portugal everyday care often starts at a centro de saúde, the public health centre, while a farmácia handles minor problems and sells many medicines without a receita, a prescription.