le
/mal/
Translation
pain, evil, badly
Word origin
From Latin malum ('evil, harm, misfortune'), the noun use of malus ('bad'), and from the adverb male ('badly'). The same root gave English malice, malign and malady.
- Origin
- Latin
- Root
- malum
- English cognates
- malice, malign, malady, malevolent
Grammar
Examples
J' , .
I've had a headache since this morning, probably from the noise.
progrès .
He speaks French badly but is making rapid progress.
parking .
She had difficulty finding a parking spot near the market.
J' .
My back has been hurting since this morning.
' débutant.
It is not so bad for a beginner.
Mal est à la fois un nom masculin (pain, evil), un adverbe (badly, poorly) et entre dans de nombreuses locutions. Avoir mal à + partie du corps exprime la douleur : j'ai mal au dos, j'ai mal à la gorge. Faire mal (to hurt, to cause pain) est incontournable : ça fait mal !
Avoir du mal à + infinitif (to have difficulty doing something) est très courant : j'ai du mal à comprendre. Pas mal (not bad, quite a lot) est une formule positive en France - pas mal du tout (quite good actually). Le pluriel maux (/mo/) désigne les maux de l'humanité ou de la société : les maux de notre temps.
Used in
Stories
(4)Grammar articles
(5)Comparing French Adverbs: plus vite, le mieux, and the Irregulars
French Adverbs of Manner: Forming -ment Adverbs
French Articles: Definite, Indefinite, Partitive, and the Article English Speakers Drop
French Possessives: mon, ma, mes and the mon-Before-Vowel Trap
French Word Order: SVO, the Object Pronoun Inversion, and Six Rules That Cover 90% of Sentences
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