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O peito dói-lhe quando corre.

O peito dói-lhe quando corre.
His chest hurts when he runs.
From Lesson 112:O corpo (dói-me a garganta)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Breakdown of O peito dói-lhe quando corre.

quando
when
doer
to hurt
correr
to run
o peito
the chest

Questions & Answers about O peito dói-lhe quando corre.

Why does it say O peito (the chest) instead of O seu peito (his chest)?
In Portuguese, when talking about body parts, we usually use the definite article (o or a) instead of a possessive word like seu. The sentence makes it clear whose chest it is by using the pronoun lhe (to him) right after the verb.
What is the role of lhe in dói-lhe?
lhe is an indirect object pronoun meaning "to him", "to her", or "to you" (formal). In this sentence, it literally means the chest hurts "to him". Combined with the definite article, this is the standard way to show whose body part is hurting in Portuguese!
How does the verb doer (to hurt) work here?
doer works a bit differently than its English translation. The body part (o peito) is actually the subject of the sentence doing the action, and it is doing the hurting to the person (lhe). Because o peito is singular, the verb is in the singular form dói. If his legs were hurting, it would be plural: As pernas doem-lhe.
Why is there a hyphen in dói-lhe?
In European Portuguese, object pronouns like lhe normally attach to the end of the verb with a hyphen. They only jump in front of the verb if there is a specific "trigger" word, like a negative word (não) or a question word. Since there are no triggers here, lhe safely attaches to the end of dói.
Why isn't the subject ele (he) included before corre?
In Portuguese, you can drop subject pronouns like ele when context makes it obvious who is performing the action. Because lhe already established that we are talking about "him", quando corre is clearly understood as "when he runs" without needing to say quando ele corre.

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