Breakdown of Мальчик добегался, и теперь у него болят ноги.
и
and
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
мальчик
boy
у
at, by
Questions & Answers about Мальчик добегался, и теперь у него болят ноги.
How do the prefix до- and postfix -ся create the meaning 'ran to exhaustion'?
The prefix до- indicates reaching a limit, while the postfix -ся makes the action loop back onto the subject. When wrapped around an activity verb like бегать, this combination creates a specific pattern meaning to do something so much that it leads to a negative consequence or exhaustion. The boy ran until he brought a bad result upon himself.
Why is this built on the multidirectional verb бегать instead of the unidirectional бежать?
This negative outcome pattern focuses on the accumulation of an action over time. Multidirectional verbs like бегать express prolonged, repeated, or aimless activity, which perfectly fits the idea of doing something for so long that you end up hurting yourself. You will rarely see this pattern with one-way verbs like бежать.
Why does the sentence use у него болят ноги instead of just его ноги болят?
Although его ноги болят is understandable, Russian strongly prefers expressing physical ailments with the preposition у plus the Genitive case of the person. It literally translates to 'by him, the legs hurt.' The letter н is added to его because it directly follows the preposition у.
Why is the verb болят in the plural form?