Mon estomac me fait mal.

My stomach hurts.

Breakdown of Mon estomac me fait mal.

• mon: my
• me: me (object pronoun)
• l'estomac: the stomach
• faire mal: to hurt

Questions & Answers about Mon estomac me fait mal.

Why is it “me fait mal” and not “fait mal à moi” or “fait me mal”?

French uses unstressed (clitic) object pronouns before the conjugated verb. The pattern is faire mal à quelqu’un → use me/te/lui/nous/vous/leur before the verb: Mon estomac me fait mal.

• Fait me mal is wrong word order.
• Fait mal à moi is grammatically possible only for strong emphasis, but sounds heavy; native speakers just say me.

Is me reflexive here?

No. Me is an indirect object pronoun meaning “to me” (as in à moi). The verb isn’t reflexive here. Compare the reflexive construction se faire mal: Je me suis fait mal (“I hurt myself”).

What does faire mal literally mean? Is mal an adverb here?

Literally “to make pain (to someone).” Here mal is a noun (“pain”), not an adverb. As an adverb, mal means “badly” (e.g., parler mal = “to speak badly”).

Why fait and not fais?

Because the subject is mon estomac (third person singular). Faire conjugates: je fais, tu fais, il/elle fait, nous faisons, vous faites, ils/elles font.