Learn Hardcore Russian: У меня болит зуб.

Russian expresses aches and pains with the construction “у + genitive pronoun/noun + 3rd-person verb.” Literally, “at me the tooth aches.” You cannot say Я болю зуб because я would require a different verb form (and is not how Russians talk about things hurting them).

What case is меня, and why is it used here?

меня is the genitive form of я. The preposition у always takes the genitive. So у меня literally means “at me,” indicating that something (the tooth) is aching in relation to me.

What case and role does зуб play in the sentence?

зуб is in the nominative case because it’s the grammatical subject of the verb болит. Even though in English you’d say “I have a toothache,” in Russian it’s “(the) tooth hurts (at me).”

Why is the verb болит singular here?

The verb always agrees with its subject in number and person. Since зуб is singular, you use the 3rd-person singular present tense болит.

How would you say “my teeth hurt” in Russian?

Switch зуб to its plural form зубы and use the 3rd-person plural verb болят:
• У меня болят зубы.

How do you talk about other body parts hurting? For example, “my head hurts” or “my back hurts.”

Replace зуб with the nominative of the desired body part and adjust the verb for singular/plural:
• У меня болит голова. (“My head hurts.”)
• У меня болит спина. (“My back hurts.”)

How do you ask “Does your tooth hurt?” in Russian?

Change the pronoun to тебя (informal) or вас (formal/plural) and add a question intonation:
• У тебя болит зуб?
• У вас болит зуб?

How do you say “No, my tooth doesn’t hurt”?

Insert negation не before the verb. You can also add нет for emphasis:
• У меня не болит зуб.
• Нет, у меня не болит зуб.

Can you say Мне болит зуб instead? Is there a difference?

Grammatically, мне is the dative of я, so Мне болит зуб is understandable. However, Russians strongly prefer У меня болит зуб for most pains. You’ll hear Мне болит голова sometimes for headaches, but otherwise stick with у меня.

What’s the difference between болит and болеет?

• болит – an impersonal 3rd-person form meaning “it aches” (used with у меня).
• болеет – 3rd-person singular of болеть, meaning “he/she is ill” or “to be sick.”
Example: У меня болит живот (“My stomach aches”) vs. Он болеет (“He is sick”).