Nach dem Sturz tut ihm das Bein weh.

the; (masculine or neuter, dative)

Breakdown of Nach dem Sturz tut ihm das Bein weh.

• nach: after
• ihm: him
• weh tun: to hurt

Questions & Answers about Nach dem Sturz tut ihm das Bein weh.

Why is it ihm and not er or ihn?

In tut ihm das Bein weh, ihm is in the dative case.

German often uses the dative to mark the person who is affected by something, especially with verbs about pain, possession, or feelings:

• Mir ist kalt. – I am cold. (literally: To me is cold.)
• Mir tut der Kopf weh. – My head hurts. (literally: To me hurts the head.)

In your sentence:

• ihm = to him (dative)
• das Bein = the leg (nominative subject)

So literally: To him the leg hurts.
That’s why it must be ihm, not er (nominative) or ihn (accusative).

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What is the grammatical subject of the sentence?

The grammatical subject is das Bein.

Structure:

• Nach dem Sturz – prepositional phrase (time)
• tut – verb (3rd person singular)
• ihm – dative pronoun (person affected)
• das Bein – subject (nominative)
• weh – part of the verb wehtun

That’s why the verb is tut (singular), matching das Bein:

• Ihm tut das Bein weh. – His leg hurts.
• Ihm tun die Beine weh. – His legs hurt. (Plural Beine, so tun.)

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What exactly is tut ... weh? Is weh an adjective or part of the verb?