Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): La médica me toca la barriga y me mira a los ojos con atención. - The doctor touches my belly and looks me in the eyes carefully.

In current Peninsular Spanish, using la médica for a woman is very common and is often preferred to make the gender explicit. The article (el / la) and the noun (médico / médica) must agree in gender.

What exactly does me mean in me toca and me mira?

Me is a pronoun meaning “me” / “to me”.

In me toca la barriga, me is an indirect object:
- literal structure: The doctor touches the belly to me
- natural English: The doctor touches my belly.
In me mira a los ojos, me is a direct object:
- literal structure: The doctor looks at me in the eyes.

Spanish often uses me with body parts and physical contact / perception to show who is affected by the action.

Why is it la barriga and not mi barriga?

With body parts, Spanish usually prefers the definite article (el / la / los / las) + a pronoun like me / te / le, instead of mi / tu / su.

La médica me toca la barriga.
Literally: The doctor touches the belly to me.
Meaning: The doctor touches my belly.

Some correct variations:

La médica me toca la barriga. (most natural)
La médica toca mi barriga. (grammatically fine, but sounds less idiomatic and more emphatic or contrastive)

So la barriga here is “my belly” because me already shows whose belly it is.

Does the gender of la barriga depend on whether the patient is male or female?

No. The gender of la barriga is always feminine, regardless of the person’s gender.

We say la barriga (feminine noun) for the belly for everyone.
The article la agrees with the noun barriga, not with the owner.

So a man would also say: Me duele la barriga (My belly hurts).

What’s the difference between barriga, estómago, vientre, and tripas?

All of these refer to the general belly / stomach area, but with different nuances:

barriga
- Very common, everyday, and a bit informal.
- “Belly” / “tummy” / “stomach area.”
estómago
- Anatomical organ: stomach.
- Also used colloquially, but sounds a bit more “inside” / medical.
vientre
- More formal or anatomical, often “abdomen” or “womb area.”
- Used in medical, biological, or poetic contexts.
tripas
- Literally “guts, intestines.”
- Informal, can sound a bit graphic: me duelen las tripas = my guts hurt.

In everyday Spain Spanish, to say a doctor is touching your belly, barriga is very natural and common.

Why is it me mira a los ojos and not something like me mira en los ojos?

The fixed expression in Spanish is mirar a los ojos (a alguien) = to look someone in the eyes.

mirar a here expresses direction / goal:
- me mira a los ojos = she looks me in the eyes.

Using en (me mira en los ojos) is not idiomatic. En usually indicates location (“in / on”), while a often indicates direction or target (“to / at”).
So you should learn mirar a los ojos as a set phrase.

Why is los ojos used instead of mis ojos in me mira a los ojos?

Same pattern as with la barriga: body parts usually take the definite article plus a pronoun, not my / your / his directly.

Me mira a los ojos.
Literally: She looks at me to the eyes.
Natural English: She looks me in the eyes.

You could say me mira a mis ojos, but it sounds strange and over‑specific in normal conversation unless there is some special contrast.

Why is me repeated: me toca… y me mira…? Could we drop the second me?

In this sentence, me is normally repeated:

La médica me toca la barriga y me mira a los ojos.

If you say:

La médica me toca la barriga y mira a los ojos.

the second verb mira has no clear object. It sounds like “The doctor touches my belly and looks at the eyes (in general).” To keep the meaning “looks at me in the eyes”, you need me again.

So in Spanish it’s very natural (and often necessary) to repeat the pronoun with each verb when both actions affect the same person.

Is there any difference between me toca la barriga and me está tocando la barriga?

Both can describe something happening right now, but there’s a nuance:

Me toca la barriga.
- Simple present.
- In Spanish, this is perfectly fine for an action happening at this moment.
- More neutral and commonly used.
Me está tocando la barriga.
- Present progressive, emphasizes the action as ongoing right now.
- Often used if you want to highlight the process or duration.

English often prefers the progressive (is touching), but Spanish uses the simple present much more for current actions.

What’s the difference between con atención and atentamente?

Both relate to attention, but they’re used differently:

con atención
- Literally “with attention” = attentively / carefully.
- Fits perfectly here: me mira a los ojos con atención = she looks me in the eyes attentively.
atentamente
- Adverb meaning attentively, but very common in formal letter endings:
  - Atentamente, = Yours sincerely / Yours faithfully,
- In spoken language it can work, but in this sentence con atención sounds more natural and everyday.

So for this context, con atención is the best choice.