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How to Say ‘Is she having trouble breathing?’ in French

Elle a du mal à respirer ?

el ah dew mal ah res-pee-RAY

[el ah dew mal ah res-pee-RAY]

💬 Usage Tip: Avoir du mal à plus a verb means "to struggle to" do it. It's handy for other symptoms too: Elle a du mal à marcher "She has trouble walking".

Phrase Breakdown

Elle a du mal

el ah dew mal

She has difficulty

'Avoir du mal à' means to struggle to do something. Link the sounds: 'eh-la-dü-mal'.

Example

J'ai du mal à dormir.

I have trouble sleeping.

Words in this phrase

Elle

[el]

She

Subject pronoun for feminine singular.

Example

Elle habite à Paris.

She lives in Paris.

[ah]

has

Used with a past participle to form the present perfect tense.

Example

Elle a visité Paris.

She has visited Paris.

[dew]

some

Contraction of de + le, used in expressions like faire du sport or faire du roller.

Example

Dans Tu fais du roller ?, du fait partie de l'expression.

In Do you skate?, du is part of the expression.

mal

[mal]

difficulty / trouble

In avoir du mal, mal means difficulty or trouble, not simply bad.

Example

J'ai du mal en géométrie cette semaine.

I'm having trouble in geometry this week.

à respirer ?

ah res-pee-RAY

breathing?

'Respirer' means to breathe. The final -er sounds like 'ay', and your voice rises for the question.

Example

Respirez lentement.

Breathe slowly.

Words in this phrase

[ah]

Used with infinitive verbs to indicate purpose.

Example

Elle commence à chanter.

She begins to sing.

respirer

[res-pee-RAY]

to breathe

Verb for taking air in and out.

Example

Il faut respirer lentement.

You must breathe slowly.

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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