German Body Parts Vocabulary: Learn with “Kopf, Schulter, Knie und Fuß”

Learning body parts in German is a great way to expand your vocabulary and have a little fun at the same time. One of the easiest (and catchiest) ways to remember them is with the German version of the popular children’s song “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes”. In German, it’s called “Kopf, Schulter, Knie und Fuß”.

In this blog post, you’ll learn essential German body part vocabulary and get a fun, memorable way to practice it with the song.

Kopf, Schulter, Knie und Fuß – The Song

German Lyrics

Kopf, Schulter, Knie und Fuß,
Knie und Fuß.
Kopf, Schulter, Knie und Fuß,
Knie und Fuß.
Augen, Ohren, Nase, Mund,
Kopf, Schulter, Knie und Fuß,
Knie und Fuß.

Translation

Head, shoulders, knees and foot,
Knees and foot.
Head, shoulders, knees and foot,
Knees and foot.
Eyes, ears, nose, mouth,
Head, shoulders, knees and foot,
Knees and foot.

Translation Note

You may have noticed that the German version includes "Fuß" (foot) at the end instead of "toes". I'm not entirely sure why the German version does this, but it is likely due to the fact that "Zeh" (toe) in the plural form is "Zehen", which would be two syllables, where the song requires one. 

Another change is in the order of the words. In the real English version of the song it says "Eyes and ears and mouth and nose", but the German version is "Augen, Ohren, Nase, Mund". This again, mostly comes down to the syllables. Since "Mund" (mouth) is only one syllable, while the other three words have two syllables each, it has to be at the end. In English we add an extra syllable with "and", but in German, we simply use the plural form of the noun, which already requires two syllables. 

Essential German Body Part Vocabulary

Here’s a list of body parts featured in the song and a few extra ones to build your vocabulary:

der Kopf, die Köpfe - head, heads
die Schulter, die Schultern - shoulder, shoulders
das Knie, die Knie - knee, knees 
der Fuß, die Füße - foot, feet
das Auge, die Augen - eye, eyes
das Ohr, die Ohren - ear, ears
die Nase, die Nasen - nose, noses
der Mund, die Münder - mouth, mouths
der Arm, die Arme - arm, arms
die Hand, die Hände - hand, hands
das Bein, die Beine - leg, legs
der Bauch, die Bäuche - belly/stomach, bellies/stomachs 
der Rücken, die Rücken - back, backs
der Hals, die Hälse - neck/throat, necks/throats

📝 Tip: Remember that all nouns in German are capitalized and each has a gender (der, die, das). This is especially important when you use them in full sentences. If you want to learn more about German noun genders, click here.