Learn Hardcore Romanian: Când am febră, mă doare capul și mă doare gâtul. - When I have a fever, my head hurts and my throat hurts.

febră in this medical sense behaves more like an uncountable noun (like “fever” as a condition), so no o (a) is used.
am o febră is grammatically correct but sounds like you’re talking about a particular, specified fever (e.g. “a strange fever”), which is much less common.

So for the usual “I have a fever”, you say am febră.

Why do we say „mă doare capul” and not something like „am durere de cap” for “my head hurts”?

Romanian usually expresses “X hurts” with the structure:

(pe mine) mă doare + [body part in the definite form]

So:

mă doare capul = literally “the head hurts me” → “my head hurts”
mă doare gâtul = “my throat hurts”

You can say am durere de cap (“I have head pain”), but:

It’s less common in daily speech.
It sounds more formal/medical, like “I have a headache” stated clinically.

Everyday Romanian overwhelmingly prefers mă doare + body part.

Why is it „capul” and „gâtul” with the definite article -ul? Why not just „mă doare cap”?

With body parts, Romanian normally uses the definite form instead of a possessive like “my”:

mă doare capul = “my head hurts”
mă doare gâtul = “my throat hurts”
mă dor ochii = “my eyes hurt”

You almost never say mă doare cap (without -ul). That sounds incorrect/unfinished.

The logic is:

The body part is known/specific (it’s yours), so it takes the definite article (capul, gâtul, piciorul, etc.).
You don’t need to say “my”; the combination mă + definite noun already implies “my …”.

Why don’t we say „capul meu” (“my head”) in „mă doare capul”?

You can say mă doare capul meu, but it sounds:

Redundant
Unnatural in normal speech
Used only in special, emphatic contexts (e.g. contrasting with someone else’s head).

In Romanian, for your own body parts, the possessive (meu, ta, lui, etc.) is usually omitted, and the definite article is enough:

mă doare capul (not mă doare capul meu)
mi-a înghețat nasul (“my nose froze”)
m-am tăiat la mână (“I cut my hand”)

The possessor is clear from the pronoun (mă, mi-, etc.), so adding meu is normally unnecessary.

Why do we need the pronoun „mă” in „mă doare capul”? Could we just say „doare capul”?

The pronoun mă is essential here because:

a durea
- pronoun indicates who is affected by the pain:
  - mă doare capul = my head hurts (hurts me)
  - te doare capul = your head hurts (hurts you)
  - îl doare capul = his head hurts (hurts him)
doare capul alone is incomplete and unnatural; you’d only hear it inside a longer sentence (e.g. Când doare capul, nu mă pot concentra, but even that is odd).

So in normal speech, always include the appropriate pronoun: mă / te / îl / o / ne / vă / îi / le.

Why is it „mă doare capul și mă doare gâtul” and not „mă dor capul și gâtul”?

Both are possible, but they mean almost the same thing and differ in style:

mă doare capul și mă doare gâtul
- Very natural, conversational.
- Repeats the verb for clarity and rhythm.
- Emphasizes each pain separately.
mă dor capul și gâtul
- Grammatically: dor is plural, agreeing with capul și gâtul.
- Also correct and used, especially when listing more body parts.
- Sounds a bit more compact and less “spoken” than the repeated version.

In everyday speech, repeating mă doare is extremely common and perfectly natural.

Why is the verb „doare” singular here, even though we have two things: capul and gâtul?

Each mă doare belongs to one subject:

mă doare capul → singular subject capul
(și) mă doare gâtul → singular subject gâtul

Because each clause has only one subject, the verb is singular each time.

If you put both body parts under one verb, then the verb goes to the plural:

mă dor capul și gâtul (one verb, two subjects → plural dor)

What does the â in „gâtul” represent, and how do you pronounce it?

The letter â (and î) represents the same sound: a central vowel, similar to a reduced “uh”, but more tense and “closed”, something like French eu in peur.

gâtul is pronounced approximately [GUH-tul], but with a tighter central vowel, not a plain English “uh”.
Phonetically: [ˈɡɨ.tul]

Spelling rule:

â is used inside words: gât, mână, România
î is used at the beginning and end: îmi, în, a urî

Could the sentence be „Când sunt bolnav, mă doare capul și mă doare gâtul” instead of „Când am febră…”?

Yes, but with a difference in meaning:

Când am febră… = when I specifically have a fever (high temperature).
Când sunt bolnav… = when I am ill/sick (broader: could be with or without fever).

Grammatically both are fine. The original sentence is specifically about having a fever, not just being sick.

Why is there a comma after „Când am febră”?

Romanian normally separates a subordinate clause from the main clause with a comma:

Când am febră, mă doare capul…
Dacă plouă, nu ieșim afară.
Când sunt obosit, beau cafea.

You can also reverse the order, and then the comma usually disappears:

Mă doare capul și mă doare gâtul când am febră.

So:

Subordinate clause first → comma: Când am febră, mă doare…
Subordinate clause after → often no comma: Mă doare… când am febră.

Can I say „Când am o febră mare, mă doare capul și mă doare gâtul”?

Yes, that’s perfectly grammatical and natural. Here:

Adding o and mare changes the meaning slightly:
- am febră = I have a fever (no indication of intensity)
- am o febră mare = I have a high/bad fever

So the sentence becomes: “When I have a high fever, my head and throat hurt.”

Is „Când am febră, mă doare capul și gâtul” (without repeating „mă doare”) correct?

Yes, it’s also correct:

Când am febră, mă doare capul și gâtul.

Here mă doare is understood for both capul and gâtul. This is slightly more compact but still natural.

So you have three common options:

Când am febră, mă doare capul și mă doare gâtul.
Când am febră, mă dor capul și gâtul.
Când am febră, mă doare capul și gâtul.

All are grammatical; (1) is very typical in spoken language.