Learn French: Elle a mal au genou depuis le match. - Her knee has hurt since the match.

Elle a mal au genou depuis le match.

Her knee has hurt since the match.

Breakdown of Elle a mal au genou depuis le match.

to be in pain, to hurt

depuis

since/for

Questions & Answers about Elle a mal au genou depuis le match.

The English translation says "has hurt," so why does the French sentence use the present tense "a"?

When a state or action started in the past and is still continuing in the present, French uses the present tense with depuis (since/for). Because her knee still hurts right now, we use the present tense Elle a mal rather than a past tense like we do in English.

Why does it say au genou (at the knee) instead of using a possessive word for "her" knee?

When talking about body parts, French typically uses a definite article (like le, la, or les) instead of a possessive adjective (like son or sa). It is already obvious it is her knee because she is the one experiencing the pain. Remember that the preposition à plus le genou always contracts to au genou.

Is it possible to translate "Her knee hurts" literally, such as "Son genou a mal"?

No, that would sound very unnatural to a French speaker. To express that a body part hurts, you almost always use the structure avoir mal à (to have pain at) followed by the specific body part.