Et fa mal el braç?

Et is the unstressed object pronoun meaning to you.

So the structure is roughly:

• et = to you
• fa mal = hurts / causes pain
• el braç = the arm

A very literal way to think of the sentence is:

Does the arm hurt to you?

That is not natural English, but it helps explain the Catalan structure.

Because tu is a subject pronoun (you), while et is an object pronoun (to you).

In this sentence, you are not the grammatical subject. The thing doing the hurting is el braç.

So:

• tu = you as the subject
• et = you / to you as an object

Catalan uses the object pronoun here because the idea is literally closer to the arm hurts to you than to you hurt the arm.

Fer mal is a very common Catalan expression meaning:

• to hurt
• to cause pain
• to be painful

So Et fa mal el braç? means Does your arm hurt?

You will see fer mal in many contexts:

• Em fa mal el cap. = My head hurts.
• Li fan mal les cames. = His/Her legs hurt.
• Això fa mal. = That hurts.

It is best learned as a set expression.

It is fa because the verb fer is agreeing with el braç, which is singular.

Here, the grammatical subject is el braç:

• el braç fa mal = the arm hurts

Because el braç is singular, the verb is singular:

• fa

If the subject were plural, the verb would change:

• Et fan mal els braços? = Do your arms hurt?

So:

• el braç → fa
• els braços → fan

With body parts, Catalan very often uses the definite article (el, la, els, les) instead of a possessive like my, your, his.

So Catalan prefers:

• Em fa mal el cap. = My head hurts.
• Et fa mal el braç. = Your arm hurts.

The person is already shown by the pronoun:

• em = to me
• et = to you
• li = to him/her/you formal

Because of that, el braç is understood as your arm here.

Using el teu braç is possible in some contexts, but it is less neutral and may sound more emphatic or contrastive.

This is a normal Catalan order for this kind of sentence.

A helpful way to see it is:

• et = indirect object pronoun
• fa mal = verb expression
• el braç = subject

Catalan often places unstressed pronouns like et before the conjugated verb.

So:

• Et fa mal el braç?

You may also hear:

• El braç et fa mal?

That is possible too, but it gives more emphasis to the arm. The version with et first is very natural and common.

Braç is pronounced roughly like bras.

Important point:

• ç in Catalan is pronounced like s

So:

• braç ≈ bras

Also:

• the a is a normal short vowel
• the final ç is not pronounced like English k or ch

So the whole sentence is approximately:

et fa mal el bras?

That is only an approximation for English speakers, but it is a useful starting point.

Yes. Tens mal al braç? is also a natural way to ask whether someone's arm hurts.

It literally means something like:

Do you have pain in the arm?

Compare:

• Et fa mal el braç? = Does your arm hurt?
• Tens mal al braç? = Do you have pain in your arm?

Both are common and natural. The first is especially useful because fer mal is a very basic everyday pattern in Catalan.

Some common answers are:

• Sí. = Yes.
• No. = No.
• Sí, em fa mal. = Yes, it hurts.
• Sí, em fa mal el braç. = Yes, my arm hurts.
• No, no em fa mal. = No, it doesn’t hurt.

Notice how the pronoun changes:

• question: Et fa mal...? = Does it hurt you...?
• answer: Em fa mal... = It hurts me...

For formal singular you (vostè), you use li instead of et:

• Li fa mal el braç?

So:

• Et fa mal el braç? = informal singular you
• Li fa mal el braç? = formal singular you

For plural you (vosaltres), you would use:

• Us fa mal el braç? = Does your arm hurt? / Do your arms hurt? depending on context

You would make the noun and verb plural:

• Et fan mal els braços?

Breakdown:

• et = to you
• fan mal = hurt (plural)
• els braços = the arms

This is a very useful pattern:

• Et fa mal el braç? = singular
• Et fan mal els braços? = plural