O calcanhar dela dói quando ela usa sandália nova, mas o tornozelo já está melhor.

Portuguese often uses the definite article with body parts, even when ownership is clear.

So:

• o calcanhar dela = literally the heel of hers
• natural English = her heel

This is very common in Portuguese. English prefers a possessive (her heel), but Portuguese often prefers article + noun + dela/dele or just article + noun if the owner is obvious.

Because seu/sua can be ambiguous in Brazilian Portuguese. It can mean:

• his
• her
• your

So o calcanhar dela is clearer than seu calcanhar.

In Brazil, speakers very often use:

• dela = her
• dele = his

especially when they want to avoid confusion.

Dói is the correct 3rd person singular form of the verb doer (to hurt / to ache).

Here, the subject is o calcanhar dela, which is singular, so the verb must also be singular:

• O calcanhar dela dói. = Her heel hurts.

Compare:

• O tornozelo dói. = The ankle hurts.
• Os pés doem. = The feet hurt.

So dói agrees with o calcanhar, not with ela.

In sentences like this, the body part is usually the subject of doer.

• O calcanhar dói. = The heel hurts.
• Minha cabeça dói. = My head hurts.
• Meus braços doem. = My arms hurt.

You can also say who feels the pain with an indirect object:

• O calcanhar dela dói.
• Dói o calcanhar dela.
• O calcanhar dói nela is not the normal way here.

A very common pattern is simply:

• X dói = X hurts

Because the sentence describes a habitual or repeated situation.

• quando ela usa sandália nova = when/whenever she wears new sandals

Portuguese often uses the present tense for things that happen regularly or generally.

So this does not mean only one specific moment. It means something like:

• every time she wears new sandals
• whenever she wears new sandals

Yes, it could.

Portuguese often allows the subject pronoun to be omitted when it is clear from context:

• O calcanhar dela dói quando usa sandália nova...

That is understandable and grammatical.

But keeping ela:

• quando ela usa sandália nova

makes the sentence clearer and a little more explicit. In Brazilian Portuguese, subject pronouns are used quite often, even when they are not strictly necessary.

Because usar often appears with clothing or footwear without an article when the meaning is general or indefinite.

So:

• usar sandália nova = wear new sandals / wear new footwear

This sounds less like one specific identified item and more like a general situation.

If you wanted to refer to a specific sandal or pair, you might say:

• usar a sandália nova
• usar as sandálias novas

depending on the context.

A learner might expect sandálias because sandals usually come as a pair, and yes, sandálias novas can sound very natural.

But the singular sandália can also be used in a more general, category-like way, especially after usar. It can feel similar to saying wear new sandal footwear rather than focusing on the pair as separate items.

So:

• usa sandália nova = possible, general
• usa sandálias novas = also very natural, and often more explicit

Both are possible; the plural may sound more intuitive to English speakers.

Because in Portuguese, adjectives usually come after the noun.

• sandália nova = new sandal / new sandals

That is the normal, neutral order.

If you put the adjective before the noun:

• nova sandália

it is still possible, but it can sound more emphatic, more literary, or more context-dependent. For everyday speech, sandália nova is the standard choice.

Já here means something like already or by now.

So:

• o tornozelo já está melhor = the ankle is already better / the ankle is better now

This suggests improvement from an earlier condition.

Also, estar melhor means to be feeling better / to be in better condition, not necessarily completely healed.

So the nuance is:

• it used to be worse
• now it has improved

Both are possible, but they are slightly different.

• já está melhor focuses on the current state: it is better now
• já melhorou focuses more on the change/improvement: it has improved already

In this sentence, já está melhor sounds natural because the speaker is describing the ankle’s present condition.

This is another example of Portuguese preferring the definite article with body parts when the owner is understood from context.

After o calcanhar dela, it is easy to understand that o tornozelo is also hers, so Portuguese does not need to repeat dela.

A fuller version would be:

• mas o tornozelo dela já está melhor

But omitting dela is completely natural because the reference is already clear.

Yes. In Portuguese, usar is the normal verb for wearing clothing, shoes, and accessories.

Examples:

• usar sandália = wear sandals
• usar camisa = wear a shirt
• usar óculos = wear glasses
• usar relógio = wear a watch

So even though usar often means to use, it also very commonly means to wear.