Learn Russian: У меня болит всё тело.

In Russian, expressing physical pain uses the same structure as expressing possession. Instead of saying 'My body hurts,' you say 'At me, the body hurts.' This is formed with У + Genitive (меня) + болит + Nominative subject (тело). While Моё тело болит would be understood, У меня болит тело is the standard, natural way to express this.

Why is the verb болит in the third-person singular form here?

In this construction, the person feeling the pain isn't the grammatical subject, the body part is! Since тело (body) is a singular noun, it acts as a singular subject ('it'). If multiple body parts were hurting, like your eyes (глаза), you would use the plural form болят ('they hurt').

Why is the word for 'whole' spelled всё here instead of весь?

The word for 'all' or 'whole' must match the gender of the noun it modifies. Because тело ends in -о, it is a neuter noun. Therefore, we use the neuter form всё. Весь is the masculine form, and вся is the feminine form.

How is всё pronounced, and why is it important not to confuse it with все?