У мене болить зап’ястя.

I

Breakdown of У мене болить зап’ястя.

• у: in
• боліти: to hurt
• зап’ястя: the wrist

Questions & Answers about У мене болить зап’ястя.

Why does Ukrainian use У мене instead of just я for my wrist hurts?

This is a very common Ukrainian pattern.

With pain, sensations, and many physical states, Ukrainian often says:

У/В + person + болить/болять + body part

So У мене болить зап’ястя is literally something like At me, the wrist hurts, but naturally it means My wrist hurts.

Using я here would not sound natural.

What case is мене in this sentence?

Мене is the genitive form of я.

The preposition у (or в) requires that form in this construction:

• я = I
• мене = me / of me / at me, depending on the structure

So in У мене болить зап’ястя, мене is there because Ukrainian expresses this idea with у + genitive.

Why is the verb болить singular?