Syntax

Syntactic actants

Actant 1: whose leg or foot it is
(a) Genitive
(b) Possessive
Мать укутала ноги ребёнка. The mother tucked in the child's legs.
Ноги её сильно замёрзли. Her feet were very cold.
NB When the word нога functions as a subject and does not have a descriptive modifier, the construction нога у + Genitive is often preferred to (a) and (b), above:
Ноги у неё сильно замёрзли. Her feet were very cold.

Restrictive modifiers

(a) adjectival modifier
левая/правая нога the left/right leg/foot
передние/задние ноги forelegs/hind legs
левая/правая передняя/задняя нога the left/right foreleg/hind leg
Жокей осмотрел левую переднюю ногу лошади. The jockey examined the horse's left foreleg.
NB The usual preferred order is левая/правая first, передняя/задняя second. To refer to both the left/right foreleg and hind leg, the phrase обе левые/правые ноги is used.
Левая нога у него была короче правой. His left leg was shorter than his right.
Жокей осмотрел передние ноги лошади. The jockey examined the horse's forelegs.