Tengo un dolor... versus Me duele?
I was doing some flashcards and came upon 2 differences that seem confusing to me.
I have a headache. = Me duele la cabeza.
I have a stomach ache. = Tengo un dolor de estomago.
What is the difference between ¨tengo un dolor¨ and ¨me duele¨?
8 Answers
You´re both right about Head and Stomach (both forms can be used). It´s just a matter of usage, but you would never say "I have a liver, finger, eye, skin ache, etc. In these cases, it must be, "Me duele(n) el higado, dedo, los ojos, la piel."
I´m afraid this is a case of memorization.
As far as I can tell - and I am open to corrction - there is no obvious/discernable difference in 'meaning' between: tengo dolor de cabeza (I have a headache)
and, me duele la cabeza (My head hurts. lit to me pains/hurts the head)
I am reasonably sure that they are interchangeable.
If I am wrong about this then we will both be learning something new lol
Dolor & Duele essentially mean the same thing, but dolor = pain, and duele = hurt. I actually just wrote a blog post on this. Check it out here for a complete description of meaning and usage: Pain in Spanish: ¿Dolor vs Duele?
I too would love to hear the clarification
...but, if you're saying 'my head hurts' then the Spanish equivalent would be 'me duele la cabeza'.
However, if you are saying 'I HAVE a headache', then I suspect 'tengo dolor en mi cabeza' would be a more parallel translation.
i think it's easy to remember the difference in use if you think in terms of:
-"Me duele": It hurts, I feel pain
-"Tengo un dolor": I have an ache, I have a pain.
So, you can say: "my head hurts" - "me duele la cabeza", or,
"I have a headache" - "tengo un dolor de cabeza".
I think they are interchangeable: me duele el hígado me duele el dedo
tengo dolor de hígado tengo dolor en el dedo anular
me duelen los ojos me arden los ojos
siento ardor en los ojos tengo dolor de ojos
These expressions are somewhat synonomous. I have a headache/My head hurts. The latter could be the result of being hit over the head with a baseball bat but that's another problem. Estoy de acuerdo con todos aquí.
There's no differences between "Tengo un dolor" con "Me duele" We also say "Me duele el estómago" and "Me duele la cabeza" as well as "Tengo un dolor en la cabeza" and "Tengo un dolor en el estómago" but we use more the short sentence.
Kind regards.
Rox.