polski · A1 · vocabulary · 4 minutes
The body
Name body parts and report pain with boleć or boli mnie.
Understand the choice
Body vocabulary includes irregular plurals: oko→oczy, ucho→uszy, ręka→ręce. Pain can be expressed with boli/bolą or mieć ból, but boli mnie is everyday.
Core rule: In boli mnie głowa, the painful part is nominative subject and mnie is the experiencer.
Notice it in context
Boli mnie głowa, a oczy są zmęczone.
My head hurts, and my eyes are tired.
Singular głowa triggers boli; plural oczy triggers są and zmęczone.
Boli mnie prawa ręka.
My right hand/arm hurts.
Ręka is singular subject; prawa agrees feminine.
Bolą go nos i gardło.
His nose and throat hurt.
Nos and gardło are listed body terms joined as a compound subject, so the pain verb is plural bolą.
What to remember
- Usta is plural-only for mouth/lips in ordinary anatomical use.
- Ręka covers hand and arm broadly; dłoń is specifically hand/palm.
Common trap: Do not make mnie the grammatical subject: the painful body part controls boli/bolą.