Mit hoved gør ondt i aften.

my

Breakdown of Mit hoved gør ondt i aften.

• i aften: tonight
• hovedet: the head
• gøre ondt: to hurt

Questions & Answers about Mit hoved gør ondt i aften.

Why is it mit hoved and not min hoved?

Danish has two grammatical genders: common and neuter.

• Common gender nouns use:
  • en (indefinite article)
  • min / din / sin etc. (possessives)
• Neuter gender nouns use:
  • et (indefinite article)
  • mit / dit / sit etc. (possessives)

The word hoved (head) is neuter:

• et hoved = a head
  So with “my” it must be:
• mit hoved = my head

Min hoved is ungrammatical, because min goes with en-words, not et-words.

Why do you say gør ondt? What does that literally mean?

Gør ondt is a very common fixed expression in Danish meaning “hurts / is painful / aches.”

• gør = does / makes (from at gøre = to do/make)
• ondt = pain / hurt (originally the neuter of ond = evil/bad)

So mit hoved gør ondt literally is like saying “my head does hurt / makes hurt.”

You don’t translate it word‑for‑word into English; you just learn gøre ondt as “to hurt, to ache.”

Why don’t you say mit hoved er ondt for “my head is sore”?