Where it hurts: me duele
'My head hurts' turns inside out in Spanish: it's the head that hurts, and 'me' stands to the side. Me duele la cabeza is word-for-word 'the head hurts to me', exactly like me gusta. For example: “Me duele mucho la garganta” — My throat hurts a lot. A rule from the Spanish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
'My head hurts' turns inside out in Spanish: it's the head that hurts, and 'me' stands to the side. Me duele la cabeza is word-for-word 'the head hurts to me', exactly like me gusta.
The main consequence: the verb agrees with what hurts, not with the person. One spot — duele, several — duelen: Me duelen los pies. Yo duelo is possible, but it would mean 'I cause pain'.
The second route is tener. A symptom is not 'felt' but literally 'had': tengo fiebre, tengo tos, tengo frío. 'I'm cold' is never said through estar — and estoy caliente would be understood as something quite different.
The third is estar with an adjective, for what will pass: estoy cansado, estoy mareado, estoy resfriado. The same words with ser would describe character, not this particular morning.
Table
| one spot | several | |
|---|---|---|
| to me | me duele la espalda | me duelen las piernas |
| to you | te duele la espalda | te duelen las piernas |
| to him, her, you | le duele la espalda | le duelen las piernas |
By example
- Me duele mucho la gargantaMy throat hurts a lot
- Me duelen los ojos por la tardeBy the evening my eyes hurt
- Tengo fiebre y tos desde el lunesI've had a fever and a cough since Monday
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
Where it hurts: how does it work in Spanish?
'My head hurts' turns inside out in Spanish: it's the head that hurts, and 'me' stands to the side. Me duele la cabeza is word-for-word 'the head hurts to me', exactly like me gusta.
What does it look like in an example sentence Spanish?
“Me duele mucho la garganta” — My throat hurts a lot. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.