Learn Spanish (Spain): A ella le duelen las piernas.

A ella le duelen las piernas.

Her legs hurt.

Breakdown of A ella le duelen las piernas.

ella

she / her (after a preposition)

to him / to her / to you (formal) / him (direct object, male person)

doler

to hurt

Questions & Answers about A ella le duelen las piernas.

Why is the verb plural (duelen) if the sentence is about one person (ella)?

In Spanish, the verb doler (to hurt) works like the verb gustar (to like). The body parts that hurt are actually the subject of the sentence. Since las piernas (the legs) is plural, the verb must be in the plural form duelen.

Why does the sentence use las piernas (the legs) instead of sus piernas (her legs)?

In Spanish, when talking about body parts, you generally use the definite article (el, la, los, las) instead of a possessive word like sus (her). We already know whose legs they are because of the le earlier in the sentence.

Why are both A ella and le used? Isn't that repetitive?

Yes, it is slightly repetitive, but it is standard Spanish! The pronoun le (to her) is necessary to show who is affected by the pain. A ella (to her) is added at the start to clarify or emphasize exactly who le refers to, since le could also mean 'to him' or 'to you'.

What is the literal translation of this sentence?

Literally, it translates to 'To her, to her hurt the legs.' This helps you see how Spanish handles the concept of pain: instead of saying that someone 'has hurting legs', Spanish expresses that the legs are causing pain to that person.