Expressing Pain: The "At Me It Aches" Structure
In English, we say "My head hurts" or "I have a stomachache." Russian expresses this using a structure similar to "I have." Literally, it translates to "At me aches the head."
To describe pain, use the preposition у + the person (Genitive case) + the verb for "ache" + the body part (Nominative case). The body part is the actual grammatical subject.
Here are the most common Genitive pronouns you will use:
- у меня (my)
- у тебя (your, informal)
- у него (his)
- у неё (her)
- у нас (our)
- у вас (your, formal/plural)
- у них (their)
Singular Pain: болит
When a single body part hurts, use the singular verb form болит.
| My heart hurts when I see how you suffer. | У меня болит сердце, когда я вижу, как ты страдаешь. |
| I drank coffee instead of water, and now my stomach hurts. | Я пил кофе вместо воды, и теперь у меня болит желудок. |
Plural Pain: болят
If multiple body parts hurt, such as muscles (мышцы) or joints (суставы), the subject is plural. Use the plural verb form болят.
| My muscles ache because I worked out. | У меня болят мышцы, потому что я занимался спортом. |
| Her joints hurt because it is a chronic illness. | У неё болят суставы, потому что это хроническая болезнь. |
Talking About Other People
You can replace pronouns with nouns to describe someone else's pain. The person experiencing the pain (following у) must be in the Genitive case. For example, бабушка (grandma) changes to бабушки.
| Grandma has severe weakness, and her heart hurts. | У бабушки сильная слабость, и у неё болит сердце. |
