Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Cuando me duele la nariz y la boca está seca, respiro despacio para estar más tranquila. - When my nose hurts and my mouth is dry, I breathe slowly to feel calmer.

You can say mi nariz duele, and it’s grammatically correct, but it sounds unusual and a bit marked. Native speakers normally prefer me duele + article + body part for body pain.

Why do we say la nariz and la boca instead of mi nariz and mi boca?

With body parts and clothes, Spanish often uses a definite article (el, la, los, las) instead of a possessive when it’s clear whose body we’re talking about:

Me duele la nariz.
Not: Me duele *mi nariz.*
Me lavo las manos. = I wash my hands.
Not: Me lavo *mis manos.*

The pronoun me already shows it’s my nose/mouth, so repeating that with mi is usually unnecessary. Using mi nariz or mi boca is possible, but normally implies special emphasis or contrast (e.g. my nose, not someone else’s).

In me duele la nariz, what is the subject, and why is the verb in the 3rd person singular?

In me duele la nariz:

la nariz is the grammatical subject.
me is an indirect object pronoun (to/for me).
duele is 3rd person singular because it agrees with la nariz (singular).

Compare with a plural subject:

Me duelen los pies. = My feet hurt.
Here, los pies is plural, so the verb is duelen (3rd person plural).

So the structure is:
[Indirect object pronoun] + duele/duelen + [body part (subject)]

Is me in me duele la nariz a reflexive pronoun?

Not exactly. It’s an indirect object pronoun, not a reflexive pronoun in the strict sense.

Reflexive would be something like:

Me lavo. = I wash myself. (action goes back to the subject)

In me duele la nariz:

The nose (subject) is doing the “hurting”.
me indicates who is affected by that pain.

So it’s better to think of it as The nose hurts me, with me as indirect object, not as a reflexive form.

Why is it la boca está seca and not la boca es seca?

Spanish normally uses:

estar for temporary states or conditions.
ser for essential, permanent characteristics.

A dry mouth is:

A temporary condition, so we say:
La boca está seca. = The mouth is dry (right now / in this situation).

La boca es seca would sound strange here, as if “being dry” were an inherent quality of that mouth, which is not the idea.

Could I also say Tengo la boca seca instead of la boca está seca?

Yes. Both are common and natural:

La boca está seca.
Focus on the state: The mouth is dry.
Tengo la boca seca.
Literally I have the mouth dry → My mouth feels dry.

In practice, both are used to describe the same feeling. In Spain, tengo la boca seca is very frequent in everyday speech when you mean I’ve got a dry mouth.

Why is seca feminine in la boca está seca?

Adjectives in Spanish must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.

la boca is feminine singular, so the adjective must be seca (feminine singular).
If the noun were masculine: el cuello está seco.
If plural: las manos están secas, los labios están secos.

So:
la boca está seca = feminine noun + feminine adjective.

Why respiro despacio and not respiro lentamente? Are both correct?

Both are correct; the difference is style and frequency.

despacio = slowly
Very common in everyday speech in Spain; sounds neutral and natural:
- Habla más despacio. = Speak more slowly.
lentamente = slowly
Slightly more formal or literary; also correct:
- Respira lentamente.

In this sentence, respiro despacio sounds very natural and conversational. You could replace it with respiro lentamente without changing the meaning, but the tone feels a bit more formal.

Why is it para estar más tranquila and not something like para ser más tranquila?

Here estar is used because we’re talking about a temporary emotional state: being calmer in that moment.

estar tranquilo/a = to be calm (at a given moment, as a state).
ser tranquilo/a = to be a calm person (as a general personality trait).

So:

Respiro despacio para estar más tranquila.
= I breathe slowly in order to be calmer (right then).

para ser más tranquila would suggest to be a calmer person in general, more like a long‑term personality change, which is not what the sentence expresses.

Why is tranquila feminine and singular? How would it change if a man were speaking?

tranquila agrees with the subject implied by the verb, which is yo (I).

The speaker here is assumed to be female, so:
- Yo respiro despacio para estar más tranquila.
If the speaker is male, it should be:
- Yo respiro despacio para estar más tranquilo.

Plural would also change:

Nosotras respiramos despacio para estar más tranquilas.
Nosotros respiramos despacio para estar más tranquilos.

Adjectives match the gender and number of the person or people they describe.

Why is estar in the infinitive (para estar más tranquila) and not conjugated?

After para meaning in order to, Spanish uses the infinitive:

para + infinitive = in order to + verb
- para comer = in order to eat
- para dormir = in order to sleep
- para estar más tranquila = in order to be calmer

If you conjugated estar, it would be ungrammatical here. The structure para + [infinitive] is the standard way to express purpose.

Could I say para sentirme más tranquila instead of para estar más tranquila?

Yes, both are correct, but there’s a nuance:

para estar más tranquila
= to be calmer (focus on the state itself).
para sentirme más tranquila
Literally: to feel myself more calm → to feel calmer
Focuses slightly more on your subjective feeling of calm.

In everyday speech, both sound natural. para estar más tranquila is a bit more neutral and direct; para sentirme más tranquila emphasises the internal feeling.

Why is me duele in the present tense, even though it could describe something that happens repeatedly?

Spanish uses the present tense both for:

Right now situations:
- Me duele la nariz. = My nose hurts (now).
General or habitual situations, especially with cuando (when):
- Cuando me duele la nariz, respiro despacio.
  = When my nose hurts, I breathe slowly. (whenever that happens)

This sentence is in that second category: a general rule about what the speaker does whenever those symptoms appear. The present tense is the normal choice here in Spanish.

Is the comma before respiro despacio necessary? Could the order of the clauses change?

Yes, the comma is standard and the order can change:

Cuando me duele la nariz y la boca está seca, respiro despacio…
(Subordinate clause first → main clause; comma is used.)
Respiro despacio cuando me duele la nariz y la boca está seca.
(Main clause first → subordinate clause; no comma is needed in normal prose.)

So both word orders are grammatical, but you punctuate them differently.