Learn Hardcore German: Meine Hand tut weh, weil ich gestern lange mit der Hand geschrieben habe. - My hand hurts because I wrote by hand for a long time yesterday.

tun is the verb that gets conjugated:
- ich tue
- du tust
- er/sie/es tut
- wir tun
- ihr tut
- sie/Sie tun
weh is a fixed little word here; you don’t change it.

So Meine Hand tut weh literally is My hand hurts / My hand is hurting.

Other examples:

Mein Rücken tut weh. – My back hurts.
Tut dir der Kopf weh? – Does your head hurt?
Mein Knie tut nicht mehr weh. – My knee doesn’t hurt anymore.

Why can’t I say Meine Hand ist weh for My hand hurts?

In German you normally do not say sein + weh to express pain.

weh is not used like an adjective with sein here.
Instead, German uses the fixed construction weh tun.

So:

✅ Meine Hand tut weh. – correct.
❌ Meine Hand ist weh. – sounds wrong or foreign.

If you want a one-word verb, you can also say:

Meine Hand schmerzt. – My hand aches / is painful. (more formal / written style)

Shouldn’t it be Mir tut die Hand weh instead of Meine Hand tut weh?

Both are grammatically correct, but the structure is a bit different:

Mir tut die Hand weh.
- Very typical, very idiomatic.
- mir = dative pronoun (to me).
- die Hand is the subject.
- Literally: The hand hurts to me.
Meine Hand tut weh.
- Also correct.
- Puts more focus on the hand itself (my hand as topic).
- Feels a bit more like you’re talking about that specific hand as an object.

What you usually do not say is:

❌ Meine Hand tut mir weh. – grammatically possible, but redundant and not idiomatic.
Native speakers would prefer either:
- Mir tut die Hand weh.
- Meine Hand tut weh.

Why is the verb at the end in weil ich gestern lange mit der Hand geschrieben habe?

weil introduces a subordinate clause. In German subordinate clauses, the finite verb (the conjugated auxiliary) goes to the very end of the clause.

Compare:

Main clause: Ich habe gestern lange mit der Hand geschrieben.
– The verb complex is in the second position (habe geschrieben split).
Subordinate clause with weil:
..., weil ich gestern lange mit der Hand geschrieben habe.
– The participle geschrieben comes before the auxiliary habe, and the whole verb complex is at the end.

Pattern:

Main clause: Subj – finite verb – (other stuff) – participle
weil-clause: weil – Subj – (other stuff) – participle – finite verb

Why is it geschrieben habe and not habe geschrieben after weil?

In a main clause, the conjugated verb must be in the second position, so you split the perfect:

Ich habe gestern lange geschrieben.

In a subordinate clause (with weil, dass, wenn, etc.), both parts of the verb move to the end, and the participle comes before the auxiliary:

..., weil ich gestern lange geschrieben habe.

So:

Main clause: habe ... geschrieben
Subordinate clause: ... geschrieben habe

Using ..., weil ich habe gestern lange geschrieben is wrong in standard German.

Could I say ..., weil ich gestern lange mit der Hand schrieb instead of geschrieben habe?

Yes, ..., weil ich gestern lange mit der Hand schrieb is grammatically correct, but it sounds stylistically different:

geschrieben habe (perfect)
- This is what you normally use in spoken German, especially for most verbs.
- Neutral, everyday style.
schrieb (simple past / preterite)
- More common in written narratives, literature, or more formal storytelling.
- In everyday spoken language (except for some common verbs like war, hatte, ging), the simple past often sounds a bit bookish.

So for normal spoken German, ..., weil ich gestern lange mit der Hand geschrieben habe is the most natural.

Why do we say mit der Hand and not mit meiner Hand?

There are two separate points here:

Case after mit
- The preposition mit always takes the dative case.
- die Hand (feminine nominative) → der Hand (feminine dative).
- That’s why it’s mit der Hand.
Definite article vs. possessive for body parts
German often uses the definite article (der/die/das) with body parts when it’s clear whose body we are talking about, especially if a pronoun is present:
- Mir tut die Hand weh. – My hand hurts.
- Er hat sich die Hand verletzt. – He injured his hand.

In your sentence there is no dative pronoun like mir, but mit der Hand still idiomatically means by hand / with the hand. It describes the method, not ownership.

You can say mit meiner Hand, but that usually emphasizes your specific hand (e.g. in contrast to someone else’s, or to a prosthetic, etc.). For the neutral meaning by hand, mit der Hand is standard.

Why is Hand repeated: Meine Hand ... mit der Hand? Is that normal?

It’s not wrong, but you don’t have to repeat it. Both are possible:

Meine Hand tut weh, weil ich gestern lange mit der Hand geschrieben habe.
Meine Hand tut weh, weil ich gestern lange geschrieben habe.

Native speakers will often drop the second “Hand” if the context is clear. The version without the repetition sounds a bit smoother and more natural in everyday speech.

The version with mit der Hand makes it extra clear that you mean writing by hand (not typing), so it can be useful if that contrast matters.

Why is the word order gestern lange and not lange gestern?

German has a rough preference for the order of adverbials known as time – manner – place.

In your clause:

gestern = time (when?)
lange = duration (how long? – often grouped with time)

So:

..., weil ich gestern lange mit der Hand geschrieben habe.
– sounds natural: time (gestern) + duration (lange) + manner (mit der Hand).

The version ..., weil ich lange gestern mit der Hand geschrieben habe is basically wrong / unnatural.

You could also say:

..., weil ich lange gestern Abend mit der Hand geschrieben habe. – still sounds odd.
Much better: ..., weil ich gestern Abend lange mit der Hand geschrieben habe.

What is the difference between weil and denn here? Could I say ..., denn ich habe gestern lange mit der Hand geschrieben?

Yes, you can say:

Meine Hand tut weh, denn ich habe gestern lange mit der Hand geschrieben.

Differences:

Word order
- weil introduces a subordinate clause → verb goes to the end:
  ..., weil ich gestern lange ... geschrieben habe.
- denn is a coordinating conjunction → normal main-clause word order:
  ..., denn ich habe gestern lange ... geschrieben.
Style / feel
- weil is the default for because, very frequent in speech and writing.
- denn sounds slightly more formal or bookish, and is less common in casual speech, though still correct.

Meaning-wise, in this sentence they both express a reason / cause: because I wrote by hand for a long time yesterday.

Why is it Meine Hand but der Hand later? Is that related to gender or case?

Yes, it’s about gender and case:

die Hand is feminine.

Meine Hand tut weh.
- Meine Hand is the subject → nominative case.
- Feminine nominative: die Hand → with possessive: meine Hand.
mit der Hand
- After mit, you must use the dative case.
- Feminine dative singular: der Hand.
- So: mit der Hand.

Overview for Hand:

Nominative: die Hand
Accusative: die Hand
Dative: der Hand
Genitive: der Hand

Your sentence correctly uses nominative first (Meine Hand) and dative later (mit der Hand).