Welcome to Unit 9! In this unit you'll learn all the vocabulary you need to talk about your health in French — from describing aches and pains to visiting a doctor and handling emergencies. Today we start with the most fundamental building block: the parts of the body. French uses a wonderfully logical structure for saying something hurts, and once you've learned it you'll be able to talk about any discomfort with confidence. Camille and Lucas are in the park after a run — let's see what hurts!
Learning tips
- French says 'avoir mal à' (literally 'to have pain at') where English says 'to hurt' or 'to have a sore ___'. Think of it as pointing to the spot.
- The preposition 'à' contracts with the definite article: 'à + le' → 'au', 'à + les' → 'aux', but 'à la' and 'à l'' stay unchanged. This is the same rule you saw with 'du/de la/de l'/des'.
- Body-part nouns in French all have gender. Learn each one with its article: 'la tête', 'le dos', 'l'œil' — the article is part of the word.
- The irregular plural of 'l'œil' is 'les yeux' (/le zjø/). Lucas uses 'les yeux' in the dialog — notice Camille uses it naturally.
- When you hear 'au dos', 'au bras', 'au ventre', the silent final consonants of these masculine nouns are never pronounced.
Warm-up & Active Recall
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| tous les jours | every day |
| chaque semaine | every week |
| souvent | often |
| rarement | rarely |
| généralement | generally / usually |
| le mois | the month |
| l'année | the year |
| pendant | during / for |
| depuis | since / for (with present tense) |
| encore | still / again |
Dialog
Lucas has just returned from a 5-kilometre run in the park and is in bad shape. Camille helps him assess his aches and pains one by one. The dialog naturally introduces all 10 body-part words and demonstrates the 'avoir mal à' structure throughout.
Vocabulary
Active words
| Word | IPA | Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| la tête | /la tɛt/ | the head | Feminine noun. 'J'ai mal à la tête' = 'I have a headache' — very common expression. |
| le bras | /lə bʁɑ/ | the arm | Masculine noun. The final 's' is silent: pronounced /bʁɑ/. Plural: 'les bras' — same spelling, still silent 's'. |
| la jambe | /la ʒɑ̃b/ | the leg | Feminine noun. 'À la jambe droite/gauche' = 'in the right/left leg'. |
| la main | /la mɛ̃/ | the hand | Feminine noun. The final 'n' is part of a nasal vowel /mɛ̃/ — the 'n' itself is not pronounced separately. |
| le pied | /lə pje/ | the foot | Masculine noun. Plural: 'les pieds' /le pje/. 'J'ai mal aux pieds' = 'my feet hurt'. |
| le ventre | /lə vɑ̃tʁ/ | the stomach / belly | Masculine noun. Informal but standard. 'J'ai mal au ventre' = 'I have a stomach ache'. |
| le dos | /lə do/ | the back | Masculine noun. The final 's' is silent. 'J'ai mal au dos' = 'my back hurts'. |
| l' l'œil | /lœj/ | the eye | Masculine noun. Irregular plural: 'les yeux' /le zjø/. Always use 'l'œil' (singular) and 'les yeux' (plural). |
| la bouche | /la buʃ/ | the mouth | Feminine noun. 'Bouche' refers to the mouth as a whole. 'Avoir mal à la bouche' = 'to have a sore mouth'. |
| l' l'oreille | /lɔ.ʁɛj/ | the ear | Feminine noun. Begins with a vowel so 'à l'oreille'. The -eille ending is pronounced /ɛj/ — like the 'eil' in 'eil' with a French R before it. |
Passive words
| Word | IPA | Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| le cou | /lə ku/ | ||
| l' l'épaule | /le.pol/ | ||
| le genou | /lə ʒə.nu/ | ||
| le doigt | /lə dwa/ | ||
| la poitrine | /la pwa.tʁin/ | ||
| le visage | /lə vi.zaʒ/ |
Useful chunks
| Word | Translation |
|---|---|
| j'ai mal à la tête | I have a headache |
| il a mal au dos | he has a sore back |
| elle a mal aux pieds | her feet hurt / she has sore feet |
Grammar: 'Avoir mal à' + definite article + body part — contraction of 'à' with 'le' → 'au', with 'les' → 'aux'; 'à la' and 'à l'' stay unchanged
| Partie du corps | Genre | Avoir mal à + article |
|---|---|---|
| la tête | féminin | j'ai mal à la tête |
| le dos | masculin | il a mal au dos |
| les pieds | pluriel | elle a mal aux pieds |
| la jambe | féminin | tu as mal à la jambe |
| le bras | masculin | j'ai mal au bras |
| l'œil | masculin (voyelle) | il a mal à l'œil |
| l'oreille | féminin (voyelle) | tu as mal à l'oreille |
| le ventre | masculin | nous avons mal au ventre |
In French, you say 'avoir mal à' (literally 'to have pain at') to express that a body part hurts. The tricky part is how the preposition 'à' combines with the definite article. When the body part is masculine singular ('le dos', 'le bras'), 'à' and 'le' merge into 'au': 'j'ai mal au dos', 'j'ai mal au bras'. When the body part is plural ('les pieds', 'les jambes'), 'à' and 'les' merge into 'aux': 'j'ai mal aux pieds'. When the body part is feminine singular ('la tête', 'la jambe'), 'à la' stays as two words — no contraction: 'j'ai mal à la tête'. When the body part starts with a vowel ('l'œil', 'l'oreille') regardless of gender, 'à l'' stays as two words: 'j'ai mal à l'œil', 'j'ai mal à l'oreille'. This same à+article rule applies everywhere in French, not just with body parts. The grammar table shows all cases side by side. Memorise the three chunks given — 'j'ai mal à la tête', 'il a mal au dos', 'elle a mal aux pieds' — and you'll have one example of each contraction type ready to use.
Exercises
Fill in the Blanks
Choose the correct form of 'à + article' (au / à la / aux / à l') to complete each sentence.
- Après la course, Lucas a mal dos. (au / à la / aux)(le dos — masculine singular)
- Elle a mal jambe gauche depuis hier. (au / à la / aux)(la jambe — feminine singular)
- J'ai trop chaud et j'ai mal tête. (au / à la / à l')(la tête — feminine singular)
- Les enfants ont mal pieds après la randonnée. (au / à la / aux)(les pieds — plural)
- Il a mal oreille à cause du froid. (au / à la / à l')(l'oreille — vowel start)
Grammar Application
Build a complete sentence using 'avoir mal à' + the given subject and body part. Apply the correct contraction.
- Moi / avoir mal / le bras → (le bras — masculine: use 'au')
- Elle / avoir mal / la main → (la main — feminine: use 'à la')
- Nous / avoir mal / le ventre → (le ventre — masculine: use 'au')
- Tu / avoir mal / l'œil → (l'œil — vowel: use 'à l'')
- Ils / avoir mal / les jambes → (les jambes — plural: use 'aux')
Translate into French
Translate each English sentence into French using 'avoir mal à' + the correct article contraction.
- I have a headache.
- She has a sore back.
- My foot hurts.
- Do you have a sore throat?
- He has a sore arm after sport.
Build Your Own Sentence
Write 2–3 French sentences describing where you or someone you know has pain. Use 'avoir mal à' and at least two different body parts.
Takeaway
Use 'avoir mal à' — not 'être' — to say something hurts, and remember the three contraction patterns: 'au' (masculine), 'à la' (feminine), 'aux' (plural), and 'à l'' (before a vowel).