Expressions: Santé et Médecin | French Grammar

Health vocabulary in French is built on three core patterns that work very differently from English. First, French uses avoir mal à + body part for pain — literally "to have hurt at the head" rather than "my head hurts." Second, French uses the definite article with body parts where English uses possessives — j'ai mal à la tê te, never j'ai mal à ma tête. Third, when you injure yourself, French uses a reflexive structure with the body part as a direct object: je me suis cassé le bras — literally "I broke myself the arm."

These patterns are not optional stylistic choices. Saying ma tête fait mal or j'ai cassé mon bras will be understood, but it sounds calque-translated and immediately marks you as a beginner. This page walks through all three patterns plus the practical vocabulary for symptoms, diagnoses, and medical visits.

Avoir mal à + body part

The all-purpose pain construction. The structure is rigid: avoir mal + à + definite article + body part.

J'ai mal à la tête.

I have a headache. (literally 'I have hurt at the head')

J'ai mal au ventre depuis ce matin.

My stomach has hurt since this morning.

Mon père a mal au dos quand il jardine trop longtemps.

My father's back hurts when he gardens too long.

J'ai mal aux dents, je dois prendre rendez-vous chez le dentiste.

My teeth hurt, I need to make an appointment with the dentist.

Elle a mal à la gorge depuis trois jours.

Her throat has been sore for three days.

The contractions follow normal rules: à + le = au (au ventre, au dos, au cou), à + les = aux (aux dents, aux pieds, aux yeux), à la and à l' stay as they are.

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The single most important rule for body parts in French: use the definite article, not the possessive. J'ai mal à la tête, never à ma tête. The reasoning: when context already establishes whose body it is — and "I have a headache" obviously refers to my head — French considers the possessive redundant. English does the same thing in fixed expressions like "I shrugged my shoulders" vs "I shrugged the shoulders" — French extends this logic everywhere.

Body parts and pain locations

A short inventory of the most useful body parts for the avoir mal à construction:

J'ai mal à la tête.

I have a headache.

J'ai mal à l'oreille.

My ear hurts.

J'ai mal aux yeux quand je lis trop longtemps.

My eyes hurt when I read too long.

J'ai mal au cou après cette nuit sur ce canapé.

My neck is sore after that night on the sofa.

J'ai mal aux jambes après cette randonnée.

My legs are sore after that hike.

J'ai mal aux pieds, j'ai trop marché aujourd'hui.

My feet hurt, I walked too much today.

To express degree, use intensifiers naturally:

J'ai un peu mal à la gorge.

My throat hurts a little.

J'ai très mal à la tête, j'ai besoin d'une aspirine.

My head hurts a lot, I need an aspirin.

J'ai vraiment très mal au dos depuis hier.

My back has been really hurting since yesterday.

Avoir mal au cœur — the trap

This expression is a notorious false friend. Avoir mal au cœur does not mean "to have a heartache" — it means "to feel nauseous / to feel sick to one's stomach."

J'ai mal au cœur, je crois que je vais vomir.

I feel sick, I think I'm going to throw up.

Le bateau bouge trop, ça me donne mal au cœur.

The boat is rocking too much, it's making me nauseous.

For actual heart pain, French uses different expressions: j'ai des douleurs à la poitrine (I have chest pain) or j'ai mal à la poitrine. For emotional heartache, j'ai le cœur brisé (my heart is broken) or j'ai du chagrin (I'm grieving).

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The historical reasoning: in older French medical thinking, the cœur (heart) referred to the upper stomach area as much as to the heart organ — what English calls heartburn still preserves this association. Avoir mal au cœur refers to the queasy feeling in that upper-stomach area. There's a parallel expression, avoir le cœur sur la main, meaning "to be very generous" — same word, different anatomy.

Avoir + symptom

Many symptoms in French are expressed with avoir, where English uses have or be:

J'ai de la fièvre, je vais rester au lit.

I have a fever, I'm going to stay in bed.

J'ai un rhume depuis lundi.

I've had a cold since Monday.

J'ai la grippe et je tousse beaucoup.

I have the flu and I'm coughing a lot.

J'ai la nausée depuis ce matin.

I've been nauseous since this morning.

J'ai une migraine atroce.

I have a horrible migraine.

Note the article variations: un rhume (indefinite — a cold among other possible colds), la grippe (definite — flu treated as a single condition), de la fièvre (partitive — some quantity of fever).

Être malade vs se sentir mal

être malade = to be sick / ill (general state).

Je suis malade depuis lundi, je ne pourrai pas venir au travail.

I've been sick since Monday, I won't be able to come to work.

Mon fils est malade, il a de la fièvre.

My son is sick, he has a fever.

se sentir + adjective = to feel + adjective. Uses the reflexive verb se sentir.

Je ne me sens pas bien depuis ce matin.

I haven't felt well since this morning.

Tu te sens fatigué ? Tu devrais te reposer.

Are you feeling tired? You should rest.

Elle se sent épuisée après cette semaine.

She feels exhausted after this week.

Je me sens beaucoup mieux, merci.

I feel much better, thanks.

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Watch the difference between je vais mal and je suis mal. Je vais mal means "I'm doing badly / I'm in a bad way" — referring to general health or wellbeing. Je suis mal means "I'm uncomfortable" — physically badly positioned, or in an awkward situation. These are not interchangeable: je suis malade (I'm sick) is different from both.

Catching a cold: prendre froid

The verb prendre combines with froid to mean "catch cold." Note: no article — prendre froid, never prendre le froid (which would mean something else, "take in the cold").

Mets ton manteau, tu vas prendre froid.

Put on your coat, you're going to catch cold.

J'ai pris froid hier en sortant sans écharpe.

I caught cold yesterday going out without a scarf.

Injuries: the surprising reflexive

When you injure yourself in French, you use a structure that looks confusing at first: je me suis cassé le bras — literally "I broke myself the arm." The grammar: me is an indirect object (myself), le bras is the direct object (the arm), and the action goes from the subject through the reflexive pronoun to the body part.

Je me suis cassé le bras en faisant du ski.

I broke my arm skiing.

Elle s'est cassé la jambe l'année dernière.

She broke her leg last year.

Il s'est cassé deux dents en tombant de vélo.

He broke two teeth falling off his bike.

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An important agreement rule: in je me suis cassé le bras, the past participle does not agree with the reflexive pronoun me — because me is the indirect object here, not the direct object. The direct object is le bras, which comes after the verb. Compare: elle s'est lavée (she washed herself — se is direct object, agreement happens) vs elle s'est lavé les mains (she washed her hands — se is indirect, les mains is direct, no agreement on the participle).

se faire mal (à) = to hurt oneself (somewhere) — usually inadvertently.

Je me suis fait mal au genou en jouant au foot.

I hurt my knee playing football.

Tu t'es fait mal ? Montre-moi.

Did you hurt yourself? Show me.

Elle s'est fait mal au dos en soulevant le carton.

She hurt her back lifting the box.

se blesser = to injure oneself. More serious than se faire mal.

Il s'est gravement blessé dans l'accident.

He was seriously injured in the accident.

Going to the doctor

The two basic patterns:

Je vais chez le médecin demain matin.

I'm going to the doctor tomorrow morning.

Tu devrais aller chez le dentiste pour cette dent.

You should go to the dentist for that tooth.

Mon père a dû aller à l'hôpital cette nuit.

My father had to go to the hospital last night.

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Watch the preposition: chez le médecin / le dentiste (at/to a person's place — using chez because the doctor or dentist is a specific person), but à l'hôpital (at/to the hospital — a place, using à). Aller au médecin is a common error among English speakers.

To make an appointment:

Je voudrais prendre rendez-vous avec le docteur Martin.

I'd like to make an appointment with Doctor Martin.

J'ai rendez-vous chez le médecin à dix heures.

I have a doctor's appointment at ten.

J'ai annulé mon rendez-vous chez le dentiste.

I cancelled my dentist appointment.

At the doctor's office

The doctor's typical opening:

Qu'est-ce qui vous amène ? — J'ai mal à la gorge depuis une semaine.

What brings you in? — My throat has been sore for a week.

Où est-ce que vous avez mal ?

Where does it hurt?

Depuis quand avez-vous ces symptômes ?

How long have you had these symptoms?

The patient's typical descriptions of duration with depuis:

J'ai cette toux depuis trois jours.

I've had this cough for three days.

J'ai mal au ventre depuis hier soir.

My stomach has hurt since last night.

Treatment vocabulary

prescrire / une ordonnance = prescribe / a prescription.

Le médecin m'a prescrit des antibiotiques.

The doctor prescribed me antibiotics.

Voici votre ordonnance, à présenter à la pharmacie.

Here's your prescription, present it at the pharmacy.

Je n'ai plus d'ordonnance, je dois retourner chez le médecin.

I don't have a prescription anymore, I have to go back to the doctor.

soigner / se soigner = treat / take care of oneself.

Le médecin la soigne depuis dix ans.

The doctor has been treating her for ten years.

Soigne-toi bien !

Take good care of yourself!

The medication vocabulary:

Prenez ces médicaments trois fois par jour, après les repas.

Take these medicines three times a day, after meals.

C'est un sirop pour la toux.

It's a cough syrup.

Je dois prendre un comprimé toutes les huit heures.

I have to take a tablet every eight hours.

J'ai besoin d'une pommade pour cette brûlure.

I need an ointment for this burn.

Common Mistakes

❌ J'ai mal à ma tête.

Incorrect — body parts take the definite article, not the possessive

✅ J'ai mal à la tête.

I have a headache.

❌ Ma tête fait mal.

Calque from English — French uses 'avoir mal à' for pain, not 'faire mal' as a subject construction

✅ J'ai mal à la tête.

My head hurts.

❌ J'ai cassé mon bras en skiant.

Incorrect — for self-inflicted injuries, French uses the reflexive structure with definite article

✅ Je me suis cassé le bras en faisant du ski.

I broke my arm skiing.

❌ J'ai mal au cœur depuis ma rupture.

Misleading — 'avoir mal au cœur' means to feel nauseous, not heartbroken

✅ J'ai le cœur brisé depuis ma rupture.

I've been heartbroken since my breakup.

❌ Je vais au médecin demain.

Incorrect preposition — 'chez' for going to a person, 'à' for going to a place

✅ Je vais chez le médecin demain.

I'm going to the doctor tomorrow.

❌ Elle s'est cassée la jambe.

Incorrect agreement — the past participle stays masculine because 'la jambe' is the direct object, not 'se'

✅ Elle s'est cassé la jambe.

She broke her leg.

Key Takeaways

Three patterns drive almost all French health expressions. Avoir mal à + definite article + body part is the universal pain construction. Avoir + symptom (de la fièvre, un rhume, la grippe) covers conditions. The reflexive je me suis cassé le bras construction handles self-inflicted injuries — and importantly, the past participle does not agree with the reflexive pronoun in this structure, because the body part is the direct object. Beware avoir mal au cœur (nausea, not heartache), and remember the preposition split: chez le médecin (at a person's office), à l'hôpital (at a place). Get those defaults right and you can navigate any French medical conversation.

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