I wondered why 'je vais me battre à' is not as acceptable as 'je vais avoir du mal à' for 'I am going to struggle'. Perhaps not as colloquial?

RichardC1Kwiziq community member

I wondered why 'je vais me battre à' is not as acceptable as 'je vais avoir du mal à' for 'I am going to struggle'. Perhaps not as colloquial?

Asked 4 years ago
CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hi Richard, 

In that context it is not correct to use 'se battre' as it is 'to fight'.

You might say -

Je vais me battre pour obtenir une réponse positive I am going to fight to get a positive answer

But it is not the same as to struggle/ find it hard to do something.

Hope this helps!

RichardC1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

I am not sure about "travailler" for "to work" because in that sentence "work" is a noun.  If one wanted to have a verb, one would use a gerund, i.e. return to working.   I think the correct answer is "au travail."  

CécileKwiziq team member

Hi Richard,

both -

Je n'irai pas au travail 

and

Je n'irai pas travailler 

are given as possibilities for 

I won't go to work

Bonne Continuation!

I wondered why 'je vais me battre à' is not as acceptable as 'je vais avoir du mal à' for 'I am going to struggle'. Perhaps not as colloquial?

Sign in to submit your answer

Don't have an account yet? Join today

Ask a question

Find your French level for FREE

Test your French to the CEFR standard

Find your French level
Clever stuff happening!