Meu olho dói.

My eye hurts.

Breakdown of Meu olho dói.

• meu: my
• doer: to hurt
• o olho: the eye

Questions & Answers about Meu olho dói.

Why is it meu olho and not minha olho?

Because olho is a masculine singular noun. In Portuguese, the possessive has to agree with the noun:

• meu olho = my eye
• minha mão = my hand

So meu goes with masculine singular nouns, and minha goes with feminine singular nouns.

Why is the verb dói?

Dói is the third-person singular form of the verb doer = to hurt / to ache.

The subject here is meu olho = my eye, which is singular, so the verb must also be singular:

• Meu olho dói. = My eye hurts.
• Meus olhos doem. = My eyes hurt.

Even though the person feeling the pain is I, the grammatical subject is my eye.

Is doer used differently from English to hurt?

A little, yes. In Portuguese, the thing that hurts is very often the subject:

• Meu olho dói.
• Minha cabeça dói.
• Meu braço dói.

This is similar to English My eye hurts, but Portuguese uses this pattern very naturally and often.

Also, doer usually means to ache / to be painful, while machucar usually means to injure / to hurt physically.

So:

• Meu olho dói = my eye hurts / aches
• Machuquei o olho = I hurt/injured my eye