Learn Spanish (Spain): Me duele mucho la rodilla.

Me duele mucho la rodilla.

My knee hurts a lot.

Breakdown of Me duele mucho la rodilla.

mucho

a lot

to me / myself (reflexive) / me (direct object)

Questions & Answers about Me duele mucho la rodilla.

Why does it use la rodilla (the knee) instead of mi rodilla (my knee)?

In Spanish, you almost always use definite articles (el, la, los, las) for body parts instead of possessive words like mi (my). Because you already used the pronoun me (to me) at the start of the sentence, it is completely clear whose knee is hurting!

Why is the sentence structured backward compared to the English translation?

The verb doler (to hurt or ache) works exactly like gustar (to like). Literally, this sentence translates closer to 'The knee causes pain to me.' That is why the subject, la rodilla, usually comes at the end, and the pronoun for the person feeling it (me) goes at the front.

If both of my knees hurt, would I say Me duele mucho las rodillas?

No, you would say Me duelen mucho las rodillas. Because doler works like gustar, the verb changes based on the thing that is hurting. Since las rodillas is plural, the verb must also be plural (duelen).

Could I use muy instead of mucho in this sentence?