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Me duele la espalda porque mi cama es vieja.

Me duele la espalda porque mi cama es vieja.
My back hurts because my bed is old.
From Lesson 49:Verbs like gustar (encantar, doler)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Me duele la espalda porque mi cama es vieja.

Why does it say Me duele la espalda instead of "Mi espalda duele"?
The verb doler (to hurt) works exactly like gustar. Instead of saying "My back hurts," Spanish structures it as "The back causes pain to me." The me shows who is feeling the pain, and the verb is duele because the thing causing the pain (la espalda) is singular.
Why does the Spanish sentence use la espalda (the back) instead of mi espalda (my back)?
In Spanish, it is standard to use definite articles (el, la, los, las) with body parts instead of possessive words like mi. Because the sentence already uses me to show who is feeling the pain, adding mi isn't necessary and sounds unnatural in Spanish.
Why do we use es for vieja? Isn't being old a changing condition that should use estar?
It is a common mix-up! While a bed gets older over time, Spanish treats age and physical characteristics as basic, defining traits of an object. Because of this, you use the verb ser (es) rather than estar.
Why does the sentence use vieja instead of viejo?
Adjectives in Spanish have to match the gender of the noun they describe. Because cama (bed) is a feminine noun, the adjective meaning "old" must also be feminine, ending in -a (vieja).

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