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Il a mal et il a de la fièvre.

Il a mal et il a de la fièvre.
He is in pain and he has a fever.
From Lesson 57:Why and because (pourquoi, parce que)·French

Questions & Answers about Il a mal et il a de la fièvre.

Why is avoir (to have) used in Il a mal instead of a word for 'is'?
In French, you 'have' pain rather than 'being' in pain. The set phrase is avoir mal. French uses avoir for many physical feelings where English uses 'to be', like being hungry (avoir faim) or thirsty (avoir soif).
Why does the sentence use de la fièvre instead of une fièvre for 'a fever'?
While English says 'a fever', French treats fever as an uncountable thing (like water or soup). You use the partitive article de la (which means 'some') before a feminine word like fièvre. Literally, the sentence translates to 'he has some fever'.
Does Il a mal mean a specific body part hurts?
By itself, Il a mal just means he is in pain in general. If you want to specify where it hurts, you add à plus the body part. For example, Il a mal à la tête means 'He has a headache'.
How does this sentence fit with learning parce que (because)?
Physical states are very common reasons to explain actions! If someone asks Pourquoi est-ce qu'il va chez le médecin ? (Why is he going to the doctor?), you would answer by putting Parce qu' (Because) right in front of this sentence: Parce qu'il a mal et il a de la fièvre.

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