Anna har vondt i ryggen.

Anna's back hurts.

Breakdown of Anna har vondt i ryggen.

• Anna: Anna
• ryggen: the back
• ha vondt i: to have pain in

Questions & Answers about Anna har vondt i ryggen.

What does the structure har vondt i + body part literally say, and is it the normal way to talk about physical pain?

Literally it is “has pain in + body part,” and yes—this is the default way to say that something hurts somewhere on the body. Examples:

• Jeg har vondt i hodet. (I have a headache / My head hurts.)
• Hun har vondt i magen. (She has a stomachache / Her stomach hurts.)

Why is it vondt and not vond?

Vond is the base adjective “painful/sore.” Its neuter singular form is vondt, and in the fixed expression ha vondt that neuter form is used idiomatically to mean “to have pain.” Think of vondt here as a set piece. Forms of the adjective:

• Masculine/feminine: vond
• Neuter: vondt
• Plural/definite: vonde

Is vondt functioning like a noun here?

Effectively, yes. Grammatically, you can view it as the neuter form of the adjective used substantively. You cannot count it (you don’t say “to have two pains”); it’s more like a mass noun sense: “to have pain.” You’ll also see it in the pattern det gjør vondt (“it hurts”).

Why is it i ryggen with the definite form (ryggen) instead of just i rygg?

Norwegian normally uses the definite form for body parts in prepositional phrases like this. The possessor is understood from context (the subject):

• Jeg har vondt i hodet.
• Han har vondt i halsen.
• Vi har vondt i knærne. Using the indefinite form (i rygg) would be unidiomatic here.

Where is the “my/her” part? Why not i ryggen min / hennes?

With body parts, Norwegian usually omits the possessive when the owner is clear from the subject: Anna har vondt i ryggen = it’s Anna’s back. Adding a possessive is often unnecessary or sounds marked. Notes:

• Some speakers/dialects say i ryggen sin/min, but in standard Bokmål it’s usually left out.
• Avoid things like Per har vondt i ryggen hennes; it would mean “Per has pain in her back,” which doesn’t make sense biologically. If you need to specify someone else’s back in other contexts, you can use phrases like jeg masserte ryggen til Anna (“I massaged Anna’s back”).

Why the preposition i and not på?

For pain located “in” a body part, use i: vondt i ryggen / i hodet / i kneet. Use på when talking about the surface or something on the body:

• Jeg har et sår på ryggen. (a wound on the back)
• But: Jeg har vondt i ryggen. (pain in the back)

How do I turn it into a yes–no question?

Invert the verb and subject:

• Statement: Anna har vondt i ryggen.
• Question: Har Anna vondt i ryggen? Answers:
• Ja, det har hun.
• Nei, det har hun ikke.

Are there alternative, natural ways to say the same thing?

Yes:

• Det gjør vondt i ryggen. (It hurts in the back.)
• Ryggen gjør vondt. (The back hurts.)
• Ryggen er vond. or Ryggen min er vond. (The back is sore.)
• More formal: Anna har smerter i ryggen. / Anna har ryggsmerter.

Can I say Anna har vond rygg?

That’s not idiomatic for “her back hurts.” You would say Anna har vondt i ryggen. If you mean she has a chronically bad back, you can say Anna har dårlig rygg.

How do I express duration or different tenses?

• Past: Anna hadde vondt i ryggen i går.
• Present perfect (ongoing/recent): Anna har hatt vondt i ryggen i tre dager.
• Still: Anna har fortsatt vondt i ryggen.
• No longer: Anna har ikke vondt i ryggen lenger.

How do I intensify or downplay the pain?

• Anna har veldig/skikkelig/ordentlig vondt i ryggen. (very/really)
• Anna har ganske/litt vondt i ryggen. (fairly/a little)
• Colloquial: kjempevondt (super painful)

How does this pattern work with other body parts (including plurals)?

Use the same frame, with the body part in the definite form:

• vondt i hodet, i halsen, i magen, i brystet
• vondt i kneet (singular), vondt i knærne (plural)
• vondt i øyet, vondt i øynene
• vondt i foten, vondt i føttene
• vondt i tennene (the teeth), or more specifically vondt i en tann (a tooth)

What’s the gender and inflection of rygg?

Rygg is common gender (historically masculine):

• Indefinite singular: en rygg
• Definite singular: ryggen
• Indefinite plural: rygger
• Definite plural: ryggene

What exactly is the role of har here—is it an auxiliary?

Here har is the main verb ha (“to have”) in the present tense. In perfect constructions it can also be an auxiliary, e.g., har hatt in Anna har hatt vondt i ryggen.

Where do adverbs like ikke, ofte, fortsatt go?

They typically come after har:

• Anna har ikke vondt i ryggen.
• Anna har ofte vondt i ryggen.
• Anna har fortsatt vondt i ryggen.

How do I pronounce the words?

Approximate Oslo-area pronunciation:

• Anna: AH-nah (double n = longer n)
• har: har (a as in “father”)
• vondt: vont (the d is silent)
• ryggen: RÜG-gen (y like German ü; gg is a hard, long g; final -en is a short, unstressed “en”)