Jeg har vondt i nakken i dag.

I

Breakdown of Jeg har vondt i nakken i dag.

• ha: to have
• i dag: today
• i: in

Questions & Answers about Jeg har vondt i nakken i dag.

Why is it jeg har vondt and not jeg er vondt?

In Norwegian, pain is usually expressed with the verb å ha (to have), not å være (to be).

• Jeg har vondt i nakken.
  = I have pain in the neck / My neck hurts.

Using er would describe a more permanent quality (I am bad / evil / painful), which is not what you mean.

Think of har vondt as a fixed expression similar to some other languages’ “to have pain” rather than English “is hurting”. Grammatically:

• jeg – I
• har – have
• vondt – pain / (lit. “bad, hurting”)

So: har + vondt + (body part) is the normal pattern:
Jeg har vondt i hodet. – I have a headache.
Hun har vondt i magen. – She has a stomachache.

What exactly does vondt mean here?

Vondt is originally the neuter form of the adjective vond, which means:

• sore, painful, aching in health contexts
• bad, unpleasant, nasty in more general contexts

In this sentence, vondt has become almost a noun-like word meaning pain / an ache in the fixed expression å ha vondt (i noe).

A few examples:

• Det gjør vondt. – It hurts.
• Jeg har vondt i ryggen. – My back hurts.
• Det var en vond opplevelse. – It was a bad/unpleasant experience.

Why is it i nakken and not på nakken?