Die Wunde an meinem Bein ist klein, aber sie tut weh.

Wunde is a feminine noun in German, so its basic article is die.

• die Wunde = the wound
• plural: die Wunden

In this sentence, die Wunde is the subject, so it is in the nominative case.

In German, all nouns are capitalized, not just proper names.

So:

• die Wunde
• mein Bein
• das Haus
• ein Arzt

This is one of the first big spelling differences English speakers notice.

Because here the sentence describes a location, not movement.

The preposition an is one of the German two-way prepositions. It can take:

• dative for location: an meinem Bein = on/at my leg
• accusative for movement toward something: an mein Bein = onto/to my leg

In this sentence, the wound is already located there, so German uses the dative: an meinem Bein.

Because mein has to change its form depending on case, gender, and number.

Here:

• Bein is neuter: das Bein
• an is being used for location, so it takes dative
• dative singular neuter with mein- becomes meinem

So:

• nominative: mein Bein
• dative: an meinem Bein

Here, sie refers back to die Wunde.

Since Wunde is feminine, the pronoun is sie. In English, we would usually say it, not she.

So in this sentence:

• die Wunde → sie

This is very common in German: pronouns match the grammatical gender of the noun, not necessarily natural gender.

The verb is wehtun, which means to hurt or to cause pain.

In a main clause, wehtun is treated as a separable verb, so it splits:

• Die Wunde tut weh.

Here:

• tut = the conjugated part
• weh = the separated part, which goes to the end of the clause

Compare:

• Es tut weh.
• Mein Rücken tut weh.

In the infinitive, it stays together: wehtun.

Yes, you could.

• Die Wunde tut weh = very common, everyday German
• Die Wunde schmerzt = also correct, but often sounds a bit more formal, literary, or medical

Learners will hear wehtun a lot in normal conversation.

Because klein comes after the verb ist and works as a predicate adjective.

In German, predicate adjectives do not take adjective endings:

• Die Wunde ist klein.
• Das Haus ist groß.
• Der Tisch ist alt.

But when an adjective comes before a noun, it does take an ending:

• eine kleine Wunde
• das große Haus
• der alte Tisch

So:

• die Wunde ist klein = correct
• eine kleine Wunde = also correct, but different structure

Because aber connects two full clauses here, and German normally puts a comma before aber in that situation.

The two clauses are:

1. Die Wunde an meinem Bein ist klein
2. aber sie tut weh

So the comma helps separate them clearly.

Also notice that aber does not send the verb to the end. The second clause keeps normal main-clause word order:

• aber sie tut weh

German main clauses usually follow the verb-second rule.

In the clause:

• sie = subject
• tut = finite verb
• weh = separated particle/complement at the end

Even after aber, the clause is still a normal main clause, so the conjugated verb stays in second position:

• aber sie tut weh

This is different from a subordinating conjunction like weil, where the verb would go to the end.

They suggest slightly different locations.

• an meinem Bein = on my leg / at my leg
• im Bein = in my leg

With eine Wunde, German often uses an for a wound on a body part:

• eine Wunde am Bein
• eine Wunde an der Hand

If you said im Bein, that would sound more like something is inside the leg rather than on its surface.

So an meinem Bein is the natural choice here.