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Does your back hurt? Parts of the body with hurt and hurts

An A1 ESL lesson plan on parts of the body and saying what hurts, from My back hurts to Do your feet hurt?

Grammar
Hurts after one body part and hurt after two or more (My arm hurts. My legs hurt.), Does and Do questions with short answers, and the plurals feet and teeth.
Topic
Body parts and exercise, with NASA astronauts' workouts on the International Space Station and words such as shoulder, muscle, bone and treadmill.
Activities
A science page for kids, a dialogue after a long day, self-checking drills with a table of plurals, a chat with a gym trainer, open-box tasks and a message to write.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Hello, healthy me!

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: the body and exerciseVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and chooseChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: exercise in space

    • Look at the photo: a gym in spacePictureUnlock
    • Read the science page for kidsReal-life documentTry it
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the right answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: a long day in the cab

    • Listen to Mia and TundeListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the right answerQuizUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: my back hurts

    • Study the scheme: hurts or hurt?Grammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the right wordChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: questions and short answersFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Fill in the table: one → two or moreFill in the tableTry it
    • Drag the words into the gapsDrag and dropUnlock
    • Choose the right sentenceQuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: what hurts?

    • Choose the right replies: after the gymChatTry it
    • Open a box and answerOpen the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Put the words in the right orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Match the words and their meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Write a message: after a long dayWriting, checked by the teacherUnlock
    • Record a voice message from spaceSpeaking, checked by the teacherUnlock

23 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Parts of the body

10 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+7 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • back
  • shoulder
  • foot
  • tooth
  • muscle
  • bone
  • treadmill

Grammar: hurt and hurts with parts of the body

Saying what hurts takes one small choice in English, and the body part makes it: My back hurts, but My feet hurt. Learners name parts of the body in the singular and plural, choose hurts or hurt from the noun, and ask Does your arm hurt? or Do your knees hurt? with short answers.

My back hurts. My feet hurt.

Say what hurts. Look at the body part: one → hurts, two or more → hurt.

One body part hurts, two or more hurt

The verb agrees with the body part, not with the person who speaks: one part takes hurts, two or more take hurt. So it's My arm hurts but My legs hurt, and My tooth hurts but My teeth hurt.

One: hurts (+ s)

  • My back hurts.
  • My arm hurts.
  • My tooth hurts.

Two or more: hurt

  • My feet hurt.
  • My legs hurt.
  • My teeth hurt.

Arms and legs, but feet and teeth

Most body parts add -s for two or more: arms, legs, knees, shoulders. Foot and tooth change their vowels instead and become feet and teeth, so My foots hurt is a slip to watch for.

OneTwo or more
armarms
leglegs
kneeknees
shouldershoulders
foot ⚠️feet
tooth ⚠️teeth

My back, his knees, our backs

My, his, her or their never changes the verb; only the number of body parts does: His knee hurts. His knees hurt. With we, the part is plural too, because there are two backs: Our backs hurt.

WhoOne → hurts · Two or more → hurt
IMy back hurts. My feet hurt.
youYour arm hurts. Your legs hurt.
heHis knee hurts. His knees hurt.
sheHer tooth hurts. Her teeth hurt.
itThe dog's leg hurts. = Its leg hurts.
weOur backs hurt. (two backs!)
theyTheir feet hurt.

Does your back hurt? Do your feet hurt?

Questions start with Does for one part and Do for two or more, and hurt drops its -s: Does your arm hurt? The short answer uses it or they: Yes, it does. No, they don't.

Questions and short answers

Question ?Yes ✓No ✗
Does your back hurt?Yes, it does.No, it doesn't.
Does his tooth hurt?Yes, it does.No, it doesn't.
Do your feet hurt?Yes, they do.No, they don't.
Do her knees hurt?Yes, they do.No, they don't.

Does … it, Do … they

One body part: Does your arm hurt? – Yes, it does. Two or more: Do your arms hurt? – No, they don't. After Does, say hurt with no -s: Does your arm hurt? (Not: Does your arm hurts?)

A little or a lot

To say how bad the pain is, put a little or a lot at the end: My back hurts a little. My feet hurt a lot! No is goes in front of hurts, since it's the verb itself.

a little or a lot?

My back hurts a little. 🙂 My feet hurt a lot! 😣

Common mistakes

  • My feet hurts.

    My feet hurt.

    feet = two: hurt

  • Does your feet hurt?

    Do your feet hurt?

    two or more: Do

  • My back is hurt.

    My back hurts.

    for pain: hurts, no is

  • My foots hurt. My tooths hurt.

    My feet hurt. My teeth hurt.

    foot → feet, tooth → teeth

Try the hurt and hurts exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 11 auto-checked exercises
  • 3 games
  • 2 teacher-checked tasks
  • 1 real-life document
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 1 audio clip
  • 2 pictures
  • 1 transcript

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • name parts of the body and their plurals, including the odd ones: foot, feet; tooth, teeth
  • say what hurts, with hurts for one part and hurt for two or more: My back hurts. My shoulders hurt.
  • ask about pain and answer with it or they: Does your arm hurt? Yes, it does. Do your feet hurt? No, they don't.
  • say how bad it is and talk about exercise: My knee hurts a little. Astronauts run on a treadmill.

Lesson 17 opens Healthy me, the fifth unit of English A1.2 · Out and About. It builds on lesson 1, where the -s of She wears a red shirt marked he and she, and on the does questions of lesson 6 (Does it rain in July? Yes, it does.), now used with body parts. The unit goes on to How often…?, the pharmacy and steps with First and Then. In space, bones and muscles get weak, so a page about astronauts' workouts needs body words from its first lines.

A spin wheel about sports and long days opens the lesson, then ten words for the body and exercise, from shoulder and bone to stretch and treadmill, with pictures and audio. Students read a science page for kids about the space station's gym, answer true-or-false and multiple-choice questions, and listen to Mia and Tunde (an AI-voiced dialogue) talk about what hurts. The grammar chapter has the scheme and five exercises, checked as students answer, among them a table that turns one body part into two and a drag-and-drop. In the speaking chapter, students reply to a gym trainer's messages, then open boxes that ask them to name a body part or teach a stretch.

Homework starts with two self-checking tasks, sentences to put in order and words to match with meanings. Students then write a friend a message about a long day and record a voice message as an astronaut, both for the teacher.

Grammar:
body parts · hurt / hurts · Does your … hurt? Do your … hurt? · short answers with it / they · foot → feet, tooth → teeth
Topic:
the body · exercise · astronauts · the International Space Station · stretching

Teaching tips

  • Warm up with touch-and-say: call out Touch your knee! or Touch your shoulders!, and students touch the part and say its name, with the plural for two.
  • Draw two columns on the board, one and two or more, and sort the scheme's examples into them before students add their own: My head hurts. My eyes hurt.
  • Mime the pain and let the class ask: hold your back or your feet, and students guess with Does your back hurt? or Do your feet hurt? until someone gets it.
  • After the chat with Wendy, pairs act out a gym class: one gives a stretch, Lift your arms, and the other says what hurts, a little or a lot.

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The whole course: English A1.2 · Out and About

32 lessons that pick up where English A1.1 ends, in simple American English, from the present simple with he and she to was and were. Eight units cover shopping, the weather, getting around, celebrations, health, animals and nature, jobs and weekends. Pictures and definitions replace translations, and the practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Shopping

    clothes and colors, he and she in the present simple, sizes and prices, paying in a store

    1. Lesson 1What does she wear on Aloha Friday?Present simple with he, she and it
    2. Lesson 2A basket on wheels?Present simple negatives with don't and doesn't
    3. Lesson 3What size are these boots?What questions and a pair of
    4. Lesson 4Can I try it on? The Santa Fe Indian MarketRequests and permission with Can I and Can you

  2. Unit 2 Weather and seasons

    the weather, seasons and months, the present continuous, how often it rains or snows

    1. Lesson 5Is the Windy City windy?Weather adjectives with It's
    2. Lesson 6Does it rain in the desert?Yes/no questions with does
    3. Lesson 7Baseball at midnight?The present continuous for now
    4. Lesson 8Is it always windy on Mount Washington?Adverbs of frequency and their place

  3. Unit 3 Getting around

    transport, timetables, where places are, tickets with want and need

    1. Lesson 9How do you get to work?By + transport, take the bus and on foot
    2. Lesson 10What time does the ferry leave?Wh- questions with does
    3. Lesson 11Where's the streetcar stop?Between, behind, in front of and across from
    4. Lesson 12Do you need a ticket?Want and need with a noun

  4. Unit 4 Celebrations

    dates and holidays, in and on, party invitations, object pronouns

    1. Lesson 13Why is it called Juneteenth?Ordinal numbers for saying dates
    2. Lesson 14Never on a Sunday? The Rose ParadeIn, on and at for dates and times
    3. Lesson 15Come to our Lunar New Year party!Some and any with plural nouns
    4. Lesson 16Thank you, teacher!Object pronouns me, you, him, her, it, us and them

  5. Unit 5 Healthy me

    the body, how often, at the pharmacy, steps with first and then

    1. Lesson 17 · you're hereDoes your back hurt?Hurt and hurts with parts of the body
    2. Lesson 18How often do you walk?How often questions and expressions of frequency
    3. Lesson 19What's the matter?Have and has for health problems
    4. Lesson 20Clean hands in five stepsSequence words with imperatives

  6. Unit 6 Animals and nature

    there is and there are, what animals are doing, parks, a, an and the

    1. Lesson 21Which frog sings its name?There is and there are for what's in a place
    2. Lesson 22What's the bear doing now?Present continuous questions and negatives
    3. Lesson 23Are there any horses on the beach?Questions with is there and are there any
    4. Lesson 24Where do the baby turtles go?A, an and the for first and second mention

  7. Unit 7 Jobs people do

    jobs and workplaces, the present simple and continuous, job interviews, possessive pronouns

    1. Lesson 25Who makes the sounds in movies?Present simple vs present continuous
    2. Lesson 26Nurses on horses?At, in and on with workplaces
    3. Lesson 27Can you be a lifeguard?Verbs with prepositions
    4. Lesson 28Whose hat is this?Possessive pronouns from mine to theirs

  8. Unit 8 Weekend stories and plans

    was and were, how long and how tall, and, but and or, camping food

    1. Lesson 29Why do we have two days off?Was and were, the past of be
    2. Lesson 30How long is a blue whale?How + adjective questions about size
    3. Lesson 31A cow made of butter?And, but and or for joining ideas
    4. Lesson 32What do you need for s'mores?Containers and quantities with of

Questions about this lesson

How do you say what hurts in English?
Name the body part, then use hurts for one part and hurt for two or more: My back hurts. My head hurts. My feet hurt. The verb follows the body part, not the speaker, so one person still says My legs hurt. For how bad it is, add a little or a lot at the end: My shoulder hurts a little.
How do you ask if a body part hurts?
Begin with Does for one part and Do for two, then the body part and hurt with no -s: Does your arm hurt? Do your knees hurt? In the short answer, the part becomes it or they: Yes, it does. No, they don't. In the chat of Does your back hurt?, an A1 lesson on edio.ai, a gym trainer asks both kinds after a first class.
Is it "my feet hurt" or "my feet hurts"?
It's my feet hurt, because feet means two, and two or more body parts take hurt with no -s. One part takes the -s: My foot hurts. The pair My tooth hurts and My teeth hurt works the same way. The person doesn't matter, so His feet hurt and Their feet hurt look alike. A table in the A1 lesson Does your back hurt? on edio.ai drills exactly this switch.
Is it "my back hurts" or "my back is hurt"?
To say you feel pain, it's my back hurts, with no is. Here hurt is the verb, like run or sleep, so it needs no be in front: My legs hurt. Does it hurt? Learners often add is because of sentences like I'm tired. The gym chat in this lesson offers my legs is hurt as a wrong reply.
Which body parts have irregular plurals?
The two that beginners meet first are foot, which becomes feet, and tooth, which becomes teeth. Most other body parts just add -s: arms, legs, knees, shoulders, backs. Foots and tooths are common slips, and the irregular plurals still take hurt with no -s: My feet hurt. Her teeth hurt.
What are the parts of the body in English?
The parts of the body to learn first are the head, neck, shoulders, arms, back, legs and feet, with the eyes and teeth in the head and the bones, muscles and heart inside. Learn the ones that come in pairs with their plurals: arm, arms; knee, knees; foot, feet. The A1 lesson Does your back hurt? on edio.ai has word cards for shoulder, muscle and bone, with pictures and audio.
How do I teach body parts to beginners?
Start with the parts students can point to, then put each one in a sentence right away: My back hurts. Do your feet hurt? Pointing and touching make the words stick, and pain gives a reason to use them. This lesson moves from word cards and a picture quiz to a science page about exercise in space, a dialogue, five drills and a chat with a gym trainer.
What's a good game for practicing body parts vocabulary?
Try touch and name: one player touches a body part and the partner says the word, singular or plural, as in knee or shoulders. Speed it up with orders like Touch your feet!, or add a little acting: Ouch! My back hurts! One open box in Does your back hurt?, an A1 lesson on edio.ai, sets up this game, and another asks students to teach a partner an easy stretch.
How do you practice hurt and hurts one-to-one?
Ask about the student's real day and wait for a full answer: Does your back hurt after work? Yes, it does. I sit at a desk all day. Then swap roles, so the student asks too. The chat in this lesson suits a learner on their own: replying to a gym trainer, they pick between my legs hurt and my legs hurts, or between it and they.
What's good homework for practicing hurt and hurts?
Good homework is a short message about what hurts after a long day, since it needs both forms: I sit in my cab all day, and my back hurts. My shoulders hurt too. A question at the end brings in Do or Does. In the A1 lesson Does your back hurt? on edio.ai, students also record a voice message as an astronaut, after an unjumble and a matching task that check themselves.
Are there interactive exercises for body parts in English?
Yes: self-checking tables and chat replies let learners practice body parts with hurt and hurts and see at once what's right. This page plays four parts of Does your back hurt?, an A1 lesson on edio.ai, with no account: a science page about exercise in space, a dialogue about a long day, a table that turns My foot hurts into My feet hurt, and a chat with a gym trainer. The rest is locked.
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