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How to Say ‘It hurts when I swallow.’ in French

Ça fait mal quand j'avale.

sah feh mal kahn zhem a-VAL

[sah feh mal kahn zhem a-VAL]

Phrase Breakdown

Ça fait mal

sah feh mal

It hurts

The main statement about the pain. Make a small pause after it.

Example

Ça fait mal ici.

It hurts here.

Words in this phrase

Ça

[sah]

that / it

Demonstrative pronoun used in everyday French to mean 'that' or 'it.'

Example

Ça me plaît quand une entreprise parle clairement.

I like it when a company speaks clearly.

fait

[feh]

makes

To create or construct by combining or shaping resources.

Example

Elle fait du café.

She makes coffee.

mal

[mal]

pain / hurt

Noun for pain; 'faire mal' means to hurt.

Example

Mon genou me fait mal.

My knee hurts.

quand j'avale.

kahn zhem a-VAL

when I swallow.

This part says when the pain happens. The 'd' in 'quand' stays silent.

Example

J'ai mal quand j'avale.

I'm in pain when I swallow.

Words in this phrase

quand

[kahn]

When

At the time that.

Example

Il devient joyeux quand il entend de la musique.

He becomes happy when he hears music.

[zhem]

I (contracted form of « je »)

« Je » becomes « J’ » before a vowel: « J’aime » = “I like/I love”. Very frequent for opinions about anime.

Example

J' aime ce studio d’animation.

I like this animation studio.

avale

[a-VAL]

swallow

Present tense of 'avaler', to swallow.

Example

J'avale un comprimé.

I swallow a pill.

Guides for French learners

The Most Common French Verbs: the 20 You'll Actually UseThe 20 most common French verbs, with the present-tense forms you need, real example sentences with native audio, and two shortcuts for past and future.Ordering in French: Cafés, Bakeries and Restaurants (with Menu Vocabulary)How to order in French at a café, a bakery and a restaurant: the phrases, the questions staff ask, and the menu and food vocabulary to understand the answers.

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