Questions & Answers about У мене болить лікоть.
Why does Ukrainian use У мене instead of a word for my?
Because Ukrainian often expresses possession with the pattern у/в + pronoun, literally something like at me.
So:
- У мене болить лікоть = literally At me, an elbow hurts
- natural English = My elbow hurts
This structure is very common in Ukrainian, especially with body parts, feelings, and states:
- У мене болить голова — My head hurts
- У мене температура — I have a fever
- У мене є брат — I have a brother
So even though English uses my, Ukrainian often prefers у мене.
What case is мене, and why is it in that case?
Мене is the genitive/accusative form of я in this expression, and after у/в in the possessive pattern у мене it is understood as part of a fixed structure meaning at me / in my case / I have.
You do not say у я. The correct form is:
- я — I
- мене — me (used here after у)
So у мене is just something you learn as a very common chunk meaning I have or my in many contexts.