using un and una with body parts

Question

Can you use un and una when using a body part?

Hola, Bienvenido al foro! - rac1, May 30, 2012

hola - meganzu1, May 30, 2012

Great question...welcome to the forum! - --Mariana--, May 31, 2012

Answer 1

I see no problem in most circumstances. "Esta es una pierna" or "This is a leg". The problem is is possesives. "me duele la espalda" for "my back hurts".

Answer 2

Thanks Megan, what you just wrote as a comment, is perfect to begin the question. It shows effort on your part which is required to learn any language. We all are here to learn and many times we have a good start on a sentence or phrase but we just aren't sure. Putting that in your initial question is a great start as to how our site works.

Has your question been answered to your satisfaction?

so I could put una even when using duele? or would you usually not use an or a when hurting something on yourself i guess. Unless you said you hurt a finger. - meganzu1, May 31, 2012

I am just a little frustrated because I have an exam tomorrow :( - meganzu1, May 31, 2012

With body parts, we use an article rather than "una / un," ie: "me duele la mano," "me duele el corazón" (in affairs of the heart), "me duele el dedo" etc (NOT "me duele mi dedo") - 005faa61, May 31, 2012

Answer 3

Hi, Megan. Welcome to the forum!

Just want to make sure that you saw Julian's comment:

With body parts, we use an article rather than "una / un," ie: "me duele la mano," "me duele el corazón" (in affairs of the heart), "me duele el dedo" etc (NOT "me duele mi dedo") - JulianChivi

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Using "un/una" is no problem when appropriate = Ella tiene un brazo más lagro que el otro. (She has one arm longer than the other)

Using "mi, su, tu" is usually not correct = Me duele la cabeza (I have a headache) (not Me duele mi cabeza)

Answer 4

Hola meganzu1, have you seen our search box yet?

We like for newer members to use the resources first because this question has been answered many times here. Welcome to Spanishdict.com!

yes. but wasn't sure exactly how to phrase my question. I was just trying to figure out if it was wrong to say "me duele una espalda" or something along thoose lines - meganzu1, May 31, 2012

hola :) - meganzu1, May 31, 2012

el gusta es mio...i think I said that right haha - meganzu1, May 31, 2012