Breakdown of Mi vecina fue a urgencias con dolor en el pie y salió con yeso y muletas.
Questions & Answers about Mi vecina fue a urgencias con dolor en el pie y salió con yeso y muletas.
Why is it vecina and not vecino?
Why is it fue?
Fue is the preterite form of ir for él/ella/usted. Here it means she went.
- ir = to go
- ella fue = she went
The preterite is used because this is a completed action in the past: she went to urgent care / the ER.
Also, fue can also come from ser, but here the meaning clearly comes from ir because it is followed by a urgencias.
What does a urgencias mean exactly?
In Spain, ir a urgencias means to go to the ER / emergency room / urgent care emergency department.
Urgencias is very commonly used in Spain to refer to emergency medical services or the emergency department of a hospital.
So:
- Fue a urgencias = She went to the ER / emergency department
This is a very natural Spain Spanish expression.
Why is urgencias plural?
Because in Spanish, urgencias is the normal noun used for emergency services or the emergency department. Even though English often uses a singular expression like the ER, Spanish commonly uses this plural form.
You do not need to translate it word-for-word. Just learn ir a urgencias as a set phrase.
Why is there no article in a urgencias? Why not a las urgencias?
In Spain, ir a urgencias without an article is a very common fixed expression.
You can sometimes hear ir a las urgencias del hospital when someone is being more specific, but in everyday speech, a urgencias is extremely natural.
So this is best learned as a standard expression:
- ir a urgencias
Why does it say con dolor en el pie and not con dolor en su pie?
Spanish often uses the definite article with body parts when it is already obvious whose body part is meant.
So instead of saying:
- su pie = her foot
Spanish often prefers:
- el pie = the foot
Because the owner is clear from the context, en el pie sounds more natural.
This is very common in Spanish:
- Me duele la cabeza = My head hurts
- Se rompió el brazo = He/She broke his/her arm
Why is it dolor en el pie and not dolor del pie?
Dolor en el pie means pain in the foot, focusing on the location of the pain.
That is the most natural wording here.
Dolor del pie can sometimes mean foot pain in a more general or descriptive way, but dolor en el pie fits this situation better because it describes where she was feeling pain when she went to the hospital.
What does salió con yeso y muletas mean literally?
Literally, it means she left with a cast and crutches.
The idea is:
- she went in with foot pain
- she came out wearing or having a cast and crutches
So salir con here shows the result of the visit: she ended up with those medical aids.
Why is there no article in con yeso y muletas? Why not con un yeso y unas muletas?
Spanish often leaves out the article after con when talking about something in a general way, especially when describing someone’s condition, appearance, or what they ended up with.
So:
- salió con yeso y muletas sounds natural and idiomatic
If you say:
- salió con un yeso y unas muletas
that is also grammatically correct, but it sounds a bit more specific or countable, as if you are focusing on the actual items themselves.
In everyday narration, the version without articles is very natural.
Does yeso really mean cast? I thought it meant plaster.
Yes. Yeso literally refers to gypsum/plaster, but in medical context it commonly means a cast.
So here:
- salió con yeso = she came out with a cast
In Spain, you may also hear escayola for a plaster cast.
What does muletas mean?
Muletas means crutches.
The singular is:
- muleta = crutch
The plural is used here because people normally use two crutches:
- con muletas = with crutches
Why is salió in the preterite too?
Could this sentence use the imperfect instead?
Not naturally, if you want this same meaning.
The sentence tells a completed chain of events, so the preterite is the right choice:
- fue
- salió
If you used the imperfect, it would sound like background information, repeated action, or an unfinished situation, which is not the main point here.
For example, iba a urgencias would suggest she was going to the ER or used to go, not a single completed visit.
Is vecina always someone who lives next door?
Would this sentence sound natural in Latin America too?
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