Question 1

Why does the sentence use o estômago (the stomach) instead of o teu estômago (your stomach)?

Accepted Answer

In Portuguese, when talking about body parts, you don't usually use possessive words like "my" or "your". Instead, you use the definite article (o or a) to say "the", and add an object pronoun like te (to you) or me (to me) to show whose body part it is. So, dói-te o estômago literally means "the stomach hurts to you".

Question 2

If the pronoun te means "you", why isn't the verb conjugated for "you" (tu)?

Accepted Answer

The verb dói (hurts) comes from the verb doer (to hurt). It is conjugated in the "it" form (third-person singular) because the actual subject of the sentence is o estômago (the stomach). The stomach is the thing doing the hurting!

Question 3

Why is there a hyphen in dói-te?

Accepted Answer

In European Portuguese, object pronouns like te normally attach to the end of the verb with a hyphen in simple affirmative sentences and most questions. If there was a negative word like não or a question word like quando (when) at the start, the pronoun would jump to the front of the verb instead.

Question 4

Why is it do almoço instead of just de almoço?

Accepted Answer

The phrase for "after" is depois de. In Portuguese, meals like almoço (lunch) usually take the definite article o (the). When you combine the preposition de (of) and the article o (the), they squish together to form the contraction do.

Dói-te o estômago depois do almoço?

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