Learn each body part with its article
Body-part nouns must be learned with their article — gender is not predictable from spelling: la tête, le visage, le nez, la bouche, la gorge, le bras, la main (f), le doigt, la jambe, le pied, le dos, le ventre, le cœur. Note the irregular plural l'œil → les yeux. For your own body French uses the definite article, not a possessive: je me lave les mains, not "mes mains". Full table in the note.
Say where it hurts: "avoir mal à" + au/aux
To say a body part hurts, use avoir mal à + the body part, with à contracting: à + le → au (mal au dos), à + les → aux (mal aux dents); à la and à l' don't change (à la tête, à l'estomac). Avoir (not être) also covers most physical states: j'ai de la fièvre, j'ai froid, j'ai les yeux bleus. Use être for an adjective state: je suis malade, je suis fatigué(e). More vocab (un rhume, la grippe, tousser) in the note.
Drawn from real examiner reports.
avoir vs être for a physical state
English "to be" covers both, so candidates swap avoir and être. Examiners cite both directions: elle a timide for elle est timide (adjective needs être) and il est les yeux bleus for il a les yeux bleus (a feature you HAVE needs avoir). Health follows suit: il a mal à la tête. Rule: avoir for what you have; être for an adjective state.
w22 41 Q2 Task 1
sain (adjective) vs la santé (noun)
sain / saine is an ADJECTIVE, "healthy", describing a thing or habit: une alimentation saine, un mode de vie sain. la santé is a NOUN, "health", the thing you look after: être en bonne santé, pour ta santé. Candidates interchange them — writing manger santé for manger sainement. sain describes; la santé names the state.
s22 Speaking Topic 1
"mal au dos" and "la fièvre" go unrecognised
Examiners report core health words are among the least well-known, even with context: mal au dos (backache) and la fièvre (fever) were named as least well-recognised. A health question is built around these words, so one unrecognised item can derail a strong answer. Learn the illness set as a block: un rhume, la grippe, tousser, une ordonnance.
s23 21 Q1
"les médicaments" only the strongest knew
les médicaments (medicine) was understood reliably only by the strongest Speaking candidates — weaker ones left it blank or substituted an unrelated word. It is a high-frequency health word (aller chez le médecin, prendre des médicaments, une ordonnance), so drill it until automatic. Don't assume the treatment vocabulary is "known" because the grammar around it is.
w23 Card 7
Forgetting à + le → au in "avoir mal"
avoir mal à + a body part must contract exactly like everywhere else: à + le → au (mal au dos, mal au ventre), à + les → aux (mal aux dents); à la and à l' stay (mal à la tête, mal à l'estomac). Writing j'ai mal à le dos leaves the contraction unresolved and loses accuracy marks. Decide the body part's gender first, then contract.
general FL trap
"les yeux", not "les œils"
The word for eye is irregular: singular l'œil, plural les yeux — never "les œils". You need it for describing appearance and health: j'ai les yeux bleus (avoir + feature), j'ai mal aux yeux (à + les → aux). Learn the pair l'œil / les yeux as a fixed exception, the way you learn any irregular plural.
general FL trap
Not all health language uses avoir
Because avoir mal à, j'ai de la fièvre and j'ai froid all use avoir, many candidates over-generalise to "health = avoir" and write j'ai malade for je suis malade. The real rule is noun → avoir, adjective → être: j'ai un rhume / de la fièvre / mal but je suis malade / fatigué(e) / en forme. Always ask: noun or adjective?
w22 41 Q2 Task 1
Name the body part with its article first
You cannot contract à correctly without knowing the body part's article, so identify it first: le bras, la tête, les dents, l'estomac. Knowing le/la/les/l' is what lets you choose au / à la / aux / à l' next. Learn each body part with its gender so this is automatic.
Contract à correctly: au, aux
Contract à with the article: à + le → au (mal au dos), à + les → aux (mal aux dents); à la and à l' do not change (à la gorge, à l'estomac). Say it aloud to check — au dos, aux dents, à la tête. The same rule applies to every "à + place", not just avoir mal.
Avoir for a noun, être for an adjective
Choose the verb by what follows it: a noun → avoir (j'ai mal, de la fièvre, un rhume); an adjective → être (je suis malade, fatigué(e), en forme). The test is "noun or adjective?", not "is this about health?" — which stops the j'ai malade error.
Extend with a cause or a remedy
For higher marks, add a cause or a next step to a symptom: parce que j'ai un rhume; je dois aller chez le médecin; je vais prendre des médicaments. In Reading, a sentence may list several symptoms while a question targets just one, so read the whole list before answering.
Talking about your body, illness and staying fit is a core Everyday Activities topic — it depends on getting the article right for body parts, contracting à correctly, and choosing between avoir and être.
Parts of the body (learn with the article):
| French | English |
|---|---|
| la tête | head |
| le visage | face |
| l'œil (m) / les yeux (m pl) | eye / eyes |
| le nez | nose |
| la bouche | mouth |
| les dents (f pl) | teeth |
| la gorge | throat |
| le bras | arm |
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