Breakdown of Lo que pasa es que me duele la muela. Tengo que ir al doctor.
ser
to be
el doctor
doctor
tener
to have
ir
to go
a
to
que
that / than
me
to me / me (direct object)
doler
to hurt / to ache
lo
the ... thing (neuter article)
pasar
to happen
la muela
the molar / the tooth (back)
Questions & Answers about Lo que pasa es que me duele la muela. Tengo que ir al doctor.
Why use Lo que pasa es que instead of just saying Me duele la muela?
Lo que pasa es que (literally "what happens is that") is a common conversational phrase used to justify a situation, make an excuse, or soften a refusal. It translates well to "The thing is..." or "It's just that..." in English. Here, the speaker is explaining why they are complaining or perhaps why they have to cancel plans: the justification is their toothache. It is followed by a normal indicative verb (duele) because it declares a fact.
The English translation says "my molar", so why does the Spanish use la (the) instead of mi (my)?
In Spanish, when you talk about body parts, you almost always use definite articles (el, la, los, las) instead of possessive adjectives (mi, tu, etc.). Because the sentence already includes the indirect object pronoun me (to me), it is completely clear whose tooth is hurting.
Why is the verb conjugated as duele if "I" am the one in pain?
The verb doler (to hurt) works exactly like gustar. The body part doing the hurting is the actual subject of the sentence, and the person experiencing the pain is the indirect object. Literally, me duele la muela means "the molar causes pain to me." If multiple teeth were hurting, the verb would become plural: me duelen las muelas.
I thought "tooth" was diente. What is a muela?
Diente is the general word for "tooth," usually referring to the front ones. Muela specifically refers to a molar (the large grinding teeth at the back of your mouth). A very common way to talk about a general toothache in Spanish is actually to say dolor de muelas, since the back teeth are usually the ones that cause the most noticeable pain.
Learn Lo que pasa es que me duele la muela. Tengo que ir al doctor and more in Spanish
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free