Mein Ellbogen tut weh.

Because Ellbogen is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative case.

• der Ellbogen = the elbow
• nominative masculine singular with mein → mein Ellbogen

So:

• Mein Ellbogen tut weh. = correct
• Meinen Ellbogen tut weh. = incorrect here

You would use meinen if Ellbogen were in the accusative, for example:

• Ich bewege meinen Ellbogen. = I move my elbow.

Tut weh comes from the verb wehtun, which means to hurt or to be painful.

In this sentence:

• tun is the conjugated part
• weh is the separated second part

So:

• wehtun = infinitive
• tut weh = hurts / is hurting

This is a very common everyday way to talk about pain in German.

Because wehtun is treated like a separable verb in a main clause.

In German main clauses:

• the conjugated verb goes in second position
• the separable part goes to the end

So:

• infinitive: wehtun
• main clause: Mein Ellbogen tut weh.

You can see the same thing with other separable verbs:

• aufstehen → Ich stehe auf.
• anmachen → Er macht das Licht an.

And in a subordinate clause, it goes back together:

• ..., weil mein Ellbogen wehtut.

The subject is Mein Ellbogen.

That is the thing that is doing the verb grammatically, even though in English we may think of the person as feeling pain.

So the structure is:

• Mein Ellbogen = subject
• tut weh = verb phrase

German often says literally something like My elbow hurts, just like English can.

Yes — and that is also very natural German.

There are two common patterns:

• Mein Ellbogen tut weh.
• Der Ellbogen tut mir weh.

The second version uses:

• der Ellbogen = the elbow
• mir = to me

German often uses the definite article with body parts when it is already clear whose body part it is.

So both are possible, but they are built differently:

• Mein Ellbogen tut weh.
• Der Ellbogen tut mir weh.

If you use mein Ellbogen, you usually do not need mir.

Because German often prefers the definite article with body parts, especially when the owner is obvious from the context.

For example, German commonly says:

• Ich wasche mir die Hände. = literally I wash myself the hands
• natural English: I wash my hands

With pain, both patterns are possible:

• Mein Ellbogen tut weh.
• Der Ellbogen tut mir weh.

So a native English speaker should remember: German does not always use a possessive like my where English does.

No. You will also see Ellenbogen.

Both mean elbow.

• Ellbogen
• Ellenbogen

Ellenbogen is the longer form, and many learners meet that one first. Ellbogen is also standard and common. So if you already know Ellenbogen, this sentence is using a shorter variant of the same word.

They are similar, but not used in exactly the same way.

• wehtun is very common in everyday speech
• schmerzen is also correct, but can sound a bit more formal or medical depending on context

For example:

• Mein Ellbogen tut weh. = very natural, everyday
• Mein Ellbogen schmerzt. = also correct, slightly more formal

A learner should know both, but wehtun is extremely useful in daily conversation.

A simple approximate pronunciation is:

mine ELL-boh-gen toot vay

A few notes:

• mein sounds like English mine
• Ellbogen has stress on the first syllable: ELL-bogen
• tut has a long u sound, like toot
• weh sounds like vay

Also remember:

• German w sounds like English v

So weh is pronounced vay, not way.

You would change both the possessive and the verb:

• singular: Mein Ellbogen tut weh.
• plural: Meine Ellbogen tun weh.

Changes:

• mein → meine
• tut → tun

That is because the subject becomes plural:

• der Ellbogen = elbow
• die Ellbogen = elbows

To make it a question, put the conjugated verb first:

• Tut mein Ellbogen weh? = Does my elbow hurt?

To make it negative, add nicht:

• Mein Ellbogen tut nicht weh. = My elbow doesn’t hurt.

So the basic pattern is easy to reuse:

• statement: Mein Ellbogen tut weh.
• question: Tut mein Ellbogen weh?
• negative: Mein Ellbogen tut nicht weh.