Learn Russian: У ребёнка ангина, болит горло. - The child has tonsillitis, his throat hurts.

У ребёнка ангина, болит горло.

The child has tonsillitis, his throat hurts.

Breakdown of У ребёнка ангина, болит горло.

to hurt, to ache; to be ill

ангина

tonsillitis, throat infection

Questions & Answers about У ребёнка ангина, болит горло.

In болит горло, what is the grammatical subject of the sentence?

The body part itself is the subject! горло (throat) is in the Nominative case, and the verb болит (hurts) is in the third-person singular to match it. In Russian, you don't say 'I hurt my throat', you say 'To me, the throat hurts'.

Why isn't there an у него (at him) in the second half of the sentence?

The phrase У ребёнка (At the child) at the very beginning applies to both parts of the sentence. Since the child is the 'possessor' of both the tonsillitis and the sore throat, repeating у него before болит горло is unnecessary and would sound repetitive.

Why doesn't the first part say У ребёнка есть ангина?

When naming a specific illness or condition, Russians usually drop the word есть (is/has). Saying У ребёнка ангина is the standard, natural way to state a diagnosis. Using есть here would sound slightly unnatural, as if you are emphasizing the mere existence of the illness rather than just stating his state of health.

Is ангина the same as the English medical term 'angina' (a heart condition)?

No, this is a very common 'false friend' for English speakers. In Russian, ангина refers to tonsillitis, strep throat, or a severe throat infection. The English heart condition 'angina' is called стенокардия in Russian.

Could I change the word order to ?