Breakdown of Tuvieron una indigestión terrible y les dolió la panza.
y
and
tener
to have
una
a, an (feminine)
les
to them / to you all
doler
to hurt / to ache
la
the (feminine)
terrible
terrible / awful
la indigestión
the indigestion
la panza
the belly
Questions & Answers about Tuvieron una indigestión terrible y les dolió la panza.
Why use the indirect object pronoun les here instead of saying su panza dolió?
This is a classic use of the dative of interest. Instead of saying the belly belongs to them using a possessive like su, Spanish uses les to show that they are the ones directly affected by the pain. The body part just takes the definite article (la panza), and the dative pronoun shows who is suffering.
Why is la panza singular if the translation says 'their bellies'?
In Spanish, when a group of people each have one of a particular body part, you typically use the singular form. If you said las panzas, it could sound like each individual person has multiple bellies!
Since tuvieron is plural, shouldn't dolió be plural too?
Is panza standard vocabulary for 'stomach' in Latin America?
Yes, panza is a very common, everyday word for belly or tummy. While estómago is the precise anatomical word, phrases like me duele la panza are completely standard and natural in casual conversation across Latin America.
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