ça fait mal
In French, "it hurts" is expressed as ça fait mal.
ça fait mal is a phrase used to describe the sensation of physical pain being caused by an object or an action. If you are in an informal setting and wish to intensify your expression of pain, you can say J'ai super mal.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase ça fait mal literally translates to "it makes pain."
Which one should you use?
There is a distinction between describing a sensation and describing a state of being. While ça fait mal describes how an object or action causes pain, the expression avoir mal is used to describe the state of a person being in pain, such as in the phrase J'ai mal for "I am in pain".
How does it change in a sentence?
To specify that something hurts you personally, you insert the indirect object pronoun between the subject and the verb, resulting in ça me fait mal (it hurts me). To indicate a specific body part that is hurting, use the structure ça me fait mal au/à la/aux followed by the body part, such as ça me fait mal au dos (my back hurts).
Did you know?
- In some contexts, ça fait mal can be used as a slang expression to describe something that is impressively powerful or 'hard-hitting'.
- French uses the definite article le or la when specifying a body part that hurts, rather than a possessive pronoun like 'my'.
- Because ça fait mal literally translates to 'it makes pain', it can be used figuratively in French to mean 'that is hurtful' when referring to a comment or an insult.
Examples in context
- Ça fait mal !It hurts!Tatoeba #4360389 by tlatelolco, translation #4360394 by tlatelolco
- Ça fait mal ici.It hurts here.Tatoeba #4901027 by sacredceltic, translation #456097 by lukaszpp
- Dis-moi si ça fait mal.Tell me if it hurts.Tatoeba #5400289 by pititnatole, translation #5137167 by Joseph
- J'ai mal à la tête.I have a headache.
- J'ai mal au ventre.I have a stomachache.
- J'ai une douleur au genou.I have knee pain.
- Ça fait mal quand j'avale.It hurts when I swallow.
- Ça fait mal au dos.My back hurts.
- J'ai super mal à la gorge.I have a really bad sore throat.
- J'ai super mal aux pieds.My feet hurt a lot.
- 23 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Léa is showing Lucas her injured wrist.
- LéaRegarde, mon poignet est tout gonflé.Look, my wrist is all swollen.
- LucasEst-ce que ça fait mal quand je touche ?Does it hurt when I touch it?
- LéaOui, ça fait mal maintenant.Yes, it hurts now.
- LucasTu devrais aller voir un médecin, Léa.You should go see a doctor, Léa.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
