Mijn buik doet pijn na het eten.

Dutch often expresses to hurt with the phrase pijn doen or pijn hebben.

• Mijn buik doet pijn = literally, My belly does pain
• Natural English: My stomach hurts

Here, doet is the he/she/it form of doen because mijn buik is singular.

You can compare:

• Mijn hoofd doet pijn. = My head hurts.
• Mijn benen doen pijn. = My legs hurt.

So the verb agrees with the thing that hurts.

Buik means belly, abdomen, or the general stomach area.

In everyday speech, Dutch speakers often use buik when talking about pain in the front of the body below the chest. It does not always mean the organ stomach in the strict medical sense.

Compare:

• buikpijn = stomach ache / belly pain
• maagpijn = pain specifically in the stomach

So Mijn buik doet pijn is a very natural way to say your stomach/belly hurts.

Dutch normally uses a possessive like mijn, je, zijn, etc. when talking about your own body parts in this kind of sentence.

So:

• Mijn buik doet pijn. = My stomach hurts.

Using de buik would sound like you are talking about the belly in a general or detached way, not your own body in normal conversation.

This is similar to English, where you would also usually say my stomach, not the stomach.

Here eten is not acting as a verb in the sentence. It is being used like a noun: the eating or more naturally the meal / eating.

Dutch often puts het before an infinitive when that infinitive is used as a noun.

So:

• eten = to eat
• het eten = the eating, the meal, or eating depending on context

In this sentence, na het eten means:

• after eating
• after the meal

Both are good ways to understand it.

Yes, sometimes you can hear na eten, especially in informal speech. But na het eten is very common and often sounds a bit more complete or standard.

There can be a slight nuance:

• na het eten = after the meal / after eating
• na eten = after eating

In many everyday situations, the meaning is almost the same.

It can mean either, depending on context.

• after eating
• after the meal

Dutch often leaves that a little broad. In real life, both ideas usually overlap anyway.

If you wanted to be more specific, you could say:

• na het avondeten = after dinner
• nadat ik heb gegeten = after I have eaten

But na het eten is a very normal everyday phrase.

This is normal Dutch main-clause word order:

• Mijn buik = subject
• doet = finite verb
• pijn = part of the expression pijn doen
• na het eten = time phrase

So the structure is basically:

Subject + verb + rest + time expression

Dutch is a verb-second language in main clauses, which means the conjugated verb usually comes in the second position.

You could also move the time phrase to the front:

• Na het eten doet mijn buik pijn.

That is also correct, and then doet still stays in second position.

Both are very natural, but they are slightly different in structure.

• Mijn buik doet pijn. = My stomach hurts.
• Ik heb buikpijn. = I have a stomach ache.

Both are common. Often:

• doet pijn focuses on the body part hurting
• heb buikpijn focuses on having the condition

In everyday conversation, either one would sound normal.

Because the subject is singular:

• mijn buik = singular

So the verb must be singular too:

• mijn buik doet pijn

If the subject were plural, you would use doen:

• Mijn armen doen pijn. = My arms hurt.

This is the same idea as English my arm hurts vs my arms hurt.

Pijn is a noun meaning pain, and it is used in several common expressions.

Examples:

• Ik heb pijn. = I am in pain.
• Mijn rug doet pijn. = My back hurts.
• Dat doet pijn. = That hurts.

So pijn is a normal noun, but certain combinations like pijn doen are very common and important to learn as chunks.

Yes, ui is one of the trickier Dutch sounds for English speakers.

buik is pronounced roughly like b-owk, but not exactly like any standard English vowel. The ui sound is very Dutch.

A few tips:

• Start with something like the vowel in uh
• Then round your lips more
• Glide slightly as you say it

The final k is clear and crisp.

If pronunciation is your goal, it helps to learn ui as a separate Dutch sound that appears in many words:

• huis = house
• buiten = outside
• buik = belly

Yes, you could, but it changes the meaning slightly.

• mijn buik doet pijn = my stomach/belly area hurts
• mijn maag doet pijn = my stomach hurts more specifically, possibly the organ itself

In everyday speech, buik is often broader and more common for general abdominal discomfort.

So if you are not being medically precise, Mijn buik doet pijn is often the safer everyday sentence.