Health & Body
Health & Body
Talking about pain and body parts in French leans heavily on avoir mal à — a fixed construction worth learning as a whole phrase rather than building word by word.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
avoir mal à + body part
J'ai mal à la tête. (I have a headache — literally 'I have pain at the head.')
I have a headache.
French describes pain with avoir mal à + the body part, using à contracted with the article as needed (à la tête, au ventre, aux dents). English instead compounds the body part directly with 'ache' or 'pain' (headache, stomachache) or uses 'my X hurts' (my head hurts). Both languages avoid a plain verb like 'to pain' acting directly on the person, but French routes everything through the single fixed phrase avoir mal à, so it's worth memorizing as one chunk rather than translating word for word.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| j'ai mal à la tête | zhay mahl ah lah tet | I have a headache |
| j'ai mal au ventre | zhay mahl oh VAHN-truh | I have a stomachache |
| j'ai de la fièvre | zhay duh lah fee-EV-ruh | I have a fever |
| je suis malade | zhuh swee mah-LAHD | I am sick |
| le médecin | luh mayd-SAHN | the doctor |
| la pharmacie | lah far-mah-SEE | the pharmacy |
| un rendez-vous médical | uhn rahn-day-voo may-dee-KAL | a doctor's appointment |
| le cœur | luh kuhr | the heart |
| les yeux | lay zyuh | the eyes |
| la main | lah mahn | the hand |
| la jambe | lah zhahmb | the leg |
| prendre un médicament | prahn-druh uhn may-dee-kah-MAHN | to take a medicine |