M'a fait mal

JoanneB2Kwiziq community member

M'a fait mal

I almost never get an answer to my questions, but I will try once more. I learned that ," J'ai mal a la tete" meant "My head hurts," or "I have a headache, (sorry but don't know the keystrokes here to get accent symbols). Now, in this exercise, it's using "faire" rather than "avoir" to express physical discomfort, but the answer concenrates only on the use of possessive adjectives, not the strange change from "avoir" to "faire." I feel frustrated and very confused. Help!

Asked 4 years ago
CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hi Joanne, 

There are different ways to say something hurts -

Ma tête me fait mal = J'ai mal à la tête 

using two expressions to say the same thing -

Avoir mal à  + le/la/lespart of the body

e.g

J'ai mal aux dents ( à + les = les) = I have toothache

J'ai mal au dos (à + le= au)  = I have backache

J'ai mal à la cheville My ankle hurts

but you could also say :

part of the body  (using the possessive adjectives)  + me fait mal

e.g.

Mon dos me fait mal = My back is painful

Mes jambes me font mal = My legs hurt

Ma cheville me fait mal = My ankle is painful

Hope this makes things clearer.

 

 

ChrisC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Hi Joanna,

Let me jump in and give my 2 cents' worth.

Faire du mal à quelqu'un = To hurt someone.

Je me suis fait mal à la jambe. -- I hurt my leg.

Avoir mal à quelque part = To "have pain" somewhere, i.e., something hurts.

J'ai mal au pied car je me suis fait mal quand je suis tombé ce matin. -- My leg hurts because I hurt myself when I fell this morning.

SimonKwiziq team member

Hi Joanne

I'm sorry to hear you haven't had your questions answered, looking at your list of questions though it looks like almost all of them have been responded to either by our wonderful community members and/or a Kwiziq team member, https://kwiziq.learnfrenchwithalexa.com/user/17246 was there something missing in those answers?  We definitely don't want you to feel ignored!

Please do let us know

Simon

M'a fait mal

I almost never get an answer to my questions, but I will try once more. I learned that ," J'ai mal a la tete" meant "My head hurts," or "I have a headache, (sorry but don't know the keystrokes here to get accent symbols). Now, in this exercise, it's using "faire" rather than "avoir" to express physical discomfort, but the answer concenrates only on the use of possessive adjectives, not the strange change from "avoir" to "faire." I feel frustrated and very confused. Help!

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