Breakdown of Tut Ihnen der Bauch weh?
wehtun
to hurt
der Bauch
the stomach
Ihnen
you / to you (formal, dative)
Questions & Answers about Tut Ihnen der Bauch weh?
Why does this sentence use Ihnen instead of Sie?
The verb wehtun (to hurt) requires the dative case for the person experiencing the pain. Instead of saying the stomach hurts you directly, German phrases it like the stomach is causing pain 'to you'. The formal dative pronoun for 'to you' is Ihnen.
Why do we say der Bauch (the stomach) instead of Ihr Bauch (your stomach)?
In English, we use possessive words with body parts (like 'your stomach'). In German, when it is already clear whose body part it is because of the dative pronoun (Ihnen), you normally just use the basic word for 'the' (der, die, or das). German literally asks: Does the stomach hurt to you?
Why is weh at the very end of the sentence?
The verb for 'to hurt' is wehtun, which is a separable verb. In a yes/no question, the conjugated part of the verb (tut) takes the first position, and the prefix (weh) gets detached and pushed to the very end of the sentence.
Does Ihnen always have to be capitalized here?
Yes! Because this is the formal 'you', it must be capitalized. If it were written with a lowercase letter (ihnen), it would mean 'to them', which would change the sentence to ask if their stomach hurts.
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