Duo Russian Grammar

36) Body and Health

You have big eyes

Be careful NOT to use «есть» when describing properties of body parts, if their existence is normal and unlikely to surprise anyone:

  • У меня длинный нос = I have a long nose.

A Handy thing to know

The Russian words for limbs and what they have on the end of them can be a little confusing initially. Depending on the situation, рука can mean hand or it can mean arm. The same is true for нога; it can be foot or leg. Most of the time the meaning is clear from the context.

The difference works as follows:

  • in English "hand", strictly speaking, means the part starting at the wrist.
  • in Russian «рука», strictly speaking, means the whole arm.
  • when you need a word describing the limb functionally (as something we use to work, to grab things etc.), English uses "hand" while Russian uses "arm"

The same goes for the lower limb.