Body parts

Body parts
 

I understand that when referring to a body part you generally write, for example, "la mano" instead of "su mano" but what are the exceptions? I just came across this sentence in a book:

"De repente inclin'o su cabeza, y metiendo la garra en el agua. "

So it's "su cabezo" pero "la garra". Is there a rule or rule of thumb?

Regards
Leo
(my first post here)

Welcome to the forums, Leo!

You'll find that both a definite article and a possessive determiner may be used. However, I believe that most native speakers will tend to use the definite article when referring to their own body instead of saying 'mi' (the possessive determiner).

By the way, there's an 'Accents' drop-down menu just above where you type that you can use to insert the special characters you'll need when writing in Spanish. ;)

Your book contains a couple of mistakes (not counting the way you typed 'inclinó').
'Inclinar la cabeza' is a set phrase meaning "nod one's head." In this sentence, however, it seems bending/leaning was intended instead of a nod and using the possessive determiner makes that intent more clear.

Thanks for the answer and the tips. Regarding the mistakes in the text, I wonder if it's just old-fashioned. The sentence is from book six of "Spanish Readers" published 1937 DC Heath & company. It's fun to read this old stuff.

Using a participle where a conjugated verb should be is not old-fashioned. It's just wrong. The translator made a mistake.

...or there was another activity after "metiendo" that wasn't quoted:

"De repente inclinó su cabeza, y metiendo la garra en el agua, bebió largamente."


As for "su cabeza" vs. "la garra":
It is right that we prefer an article instead of the possessive. When it's used (and it's not colloquial language, as it seems to be the case) it's a matter of emphasis. It's not repeated ("su garra") because in Spanish we don't like repetitions in the same sentence. :)