man skauda

Aches and Pains

Level 3

Man skauda galvą. literally means To me it hurts the head: the person is in the dative and the body part in the accusative. Ask Kas tau skauda? (What hurts?).

How It Works

Who hurts and what hurts

The person who feels the pain is in the dative, like in Dative With State Words. The body part is usually in the accusative:

  • galva → galvą: Man skauda galvą. (I have a headache.)
  • pilvas → pilvą: Vaikui skauda pilvą. (The child has a stomachache.)
  • gerklė → gerklę, nugara → nugarą, koja → koją, dantis → dantį, ausis → ausį

One verb form

Skaudėti is used only in the third person: skauda (now), skaudėjo (before), skaudės (later). It does not change for aš or tu.

The nominative variant

You will also hear the body part in the nominative: Man skauda galva or Man galva skauda. Both variants occur; the accusative is the pattern taught here, so use galvą in your own speech and writing. The question Kas tau skauda? uses the nominative kas. At the doctor you may also hear Kur skauda? (Where does it hurt?).

With ne- and nebe-

In the accusative-object construction taught here, negation changes the body part to the genitive: Man neskauda galvos. (My head does not hurt.) Man nebeskauda gerklės. (My throat does not hurt anymore.) See Genitive After Negation and No Longer With Nebe-.

Examples (6)

  1. Man skauda galvą.

    I have a headache.

    Word by Word: To-me hurts head-ACC.

  2. Kas tau skauda?

    What hurts?

    Word by Word: What to-you hurts?

  3. Vaikui skauda pilvą.

    The child has a stomachache.

    Word by Word: To-child hurts stomach-ACC.

  4. Vakar man labai skaudėjo dantį.

    Yesterday I had a bad toothache.

    Word by Word: Yesterday to-me very hurt tooth-ACC.

    skaudėjo is the past form; the verb stays third person.

  5. Ar tau dar skauda koją?

    Does your leg still hurt?

    Word by Word: Q to-you still hurts leg-ACC?

  6. Man jau nebeskauda gerklės.

    My throat doesn't hurt anymore.

    Word by Word: To-me already no-longer-hurts throat-GEN.

    After nebe-, gerklę becomes the genitive gerklės.

Common Mistakes

  • Putting the person in the nominative.

    Aš skauda galvą.
    Man skauda galvą.

    The person who feels pain is not the subject of skauda. Put the person in the dative: man, tau, jam, jai.

  • Keeping the accusative after neskauda.

    Man neskauda galvą.
    Man neskauda galvos.

    When skauda is negated, the accusative body part changes to the genitive: galvą becomes galvos.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

man skaudaLevel 3Aches and Pains

Learn This First

Skauda combines a dative experiencer with the body-part object.

Words in This Pattern

skaudėti