У мене болить підшлункова залоза.

I

Breakdown of У мене болить підшлункова залоза.

• у: in
• боліти: to hurt
• підшлункова залоза: the pancreas

Questions & Answers about У мене болить підшлункова залоза.

Why does Ukrainian use У мене here instead of a word for my?

Because this is a very common Ukrainian pattern for talking about pain, symptoms, and possession-like states.

• У мене literally means at me
• У мене болить ... is the normal way to say that some body part hurts

So Ukrainian often frames this as:

• At me hurts X

rather than:

• My X hurts

A very common pattern is:

• У мене болить голова = My head hurts
• У мене болить спина = My back hurts

This sounds natural in Ukrainian.

Could I also say Моя підшлункова залоза болить?

Yes, it is grammatical, but it is less neutral and less idiomatic in everyday speech.

For body parts and physical pain, Ukrainian usually prefers:

• У мене болить підшлункова залоза

Using моя can sound more emphatic, contrastive, or stylistically marked, as if you are stressing that it is my organ, not someone else’s.

So for a learner, the safest natural pattern is:

• У мене болить + body part

Why is the verb болить and not болять?