La enfermera me puso una venda en la muñeca y me dio una pomada para el tobillo.

Because me is an indirect object pronoun here, meaning to me or for me.

• La enfermera me puso una venda... = The nurse put a bandage on me / put a bandage on my wrist
• ...y me dio una pomada... = ...and gave me an ointment

Spanish often uses these indirect object pronouns where English may not repeat to me or for me so explicitly.

So the two me forms are not redundant in Spanish; they are the normal way to show who was affected by the action.

Yes. Puso is the preterite form of poner, meaning put or placed.

But in this sentence, me puso una venda does not mean put me somewhere. It means:

• put a bandage on me
• more naturally in English: put a bandage on my wrist

The structure is:

• me = to me / on me
• puso = put
• una venda = a bandage

Spanish often leaves body-part ownership implicit, so me puso una venda en la muñeca is very natural.

This is very common in Spanish with body parts.

When it is already clear whose body part is being discussed, Spanish usually prefers:

• the wrist
• the ankle

rather than:

• my wrist
• my ankle

That is why you get:

• me puso una venda en la muñeca
• me dio una pomada para el tobillo

The me already tells us the wrist and ankle are yours, so mi is usually unnecessary.

English uses possessives more often here, but Spanish usually uses the definite article with body parts after verbs plus an indirect object pronoun.

Both are in the preterite, the Spanish past tense used for completed actions.

• puso = he/she put
• dio = he/she gave

This tense is used because the sentence describes specific finished actions in the past:

• the nurse put on a bandage
• the nurse gave some ointment

It is not describing an ongoing situation, habit, or background action. It is describing completed events.

Because both venda and pomada are feminine singular nouns.

So they take the feminine singular article una:

• una venda = a bandage
• una pomada = an ointment / a cream / an ointment cream, depending on context

Their gender is grammatical, so the article must agree with the noun.

Because the two parts of the sentence express slightly different ideas.

en la muñeca

This tells you where the bandage was placed:

• on the wrist
• literally in/on the wrist area

So en is used for location.

para el tobillo

This tells you what the ointment was intended for:

• for the ankle

So para is used for purpose or intended use.

If the sentence said me puso una pomada en el tobillo, that would mean the nurse actually applied the ointment to the ankle. But me dio una pomada para el tobillo means she gave you ointment intended for the ankle.

Yes. Dio is the preterite of dar, and dar is irregular in that tense.

The preterite forms are:

• di
• diste
• dio
• dimos
• disteis
• dieron

So me dio una pomada means she gave me an ointment.

A learner often notices that dio is very short and does not look like the infinitive dar, but it is a very common form and worth memorising.

The subject is La enfermera.

It applies to both verbs:

• La enfermera me puso...
• (La enfermera) me dio...

Spanish often omits repeated subjects when they are already clear. So the second clause does not need to repeat la enfermera.

English can do the same:

• The nurse put a bandage on my wrist and gave me some ointment for my ankle.

Yes, but the meaning would change.

• me puso = put on me / for me
• le puso = put on him/her/you (formal) / for him/her/you (formal)

So me tells us the nurse did this to or for me. If you changed it to le, the person receiving the action would be someone else.

The same applies to me dio vs le dio.

The given word order is the most natural and standard.

• La enfermera me puso una venda en la muñeca y me dio una pomada para el tobillo.

Spanish word order is somewhat flexible, but not all alternatives sound equally natural.

For example, you could sometimes move things for emphasis, but the pronouns normally stay before the conjugated verbs:

• me puso
• me dio

So a learner should treat this order as the default pattern: subject + indirect object pronoun + verb + thing + extra detail

Not always exactly. Pomada can mean:

• ointment
• salve
• sometimes medicated cream depending on context

The exact English translation depends on what kind of product is meant. In a medical context like this, ointment is a good basic translation.

So me dio una pomada para el tobillo could be understood as giving you some kind of topical treatment for the ankle.

Yes, but that would mean something slightly different.

• una venda en la muñeca = a bandage placed on the wrist
• una venda para la muñeca = a bandage for the wrist, such as one intended to support or treat it

In the original sentence, me puso una venda en la muñeca focuses on the nurse’s action of actually placing it there.

So en fits better than para in that context.

A few very useful ones:

1. Indirect object pronouns

   • me puso
   • me dio

2. Preterite tense for completed past actions

   • puso
   • dio

3. Definite articles with body parts

   • la muñeca
   • el tobillo instead of mi muñeca / mi tobillo

4. Different prepositions for different meanings

   • en la muñeca = location
   • para el tobillo = purpose/intended use

5. Omitted repeated subject

   • La enfermera applies to both verbs

It is a very natural sentence and a good example of how Spanish handles medical or body-related situations.