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How to Say ‘My stomach has been hurting for two days.’ in French

J'ai mal au ventre depuis deux jours.

zhay ay mal oh VAHN-truh duh-PWEE d-uh zhoor

[zhay ay mal oh VAHN-truh duh-PWEE d-uh zhoor]

💬 Usage Tip: French says "I have pain at the belly": avoir mal à plus the body part. Swap the part to reuse it: J'ai mal à la tête "I have a headache".

Phrase Breakdown

J'ai mal au ventre

zhay ay mal oh VAHN-truh

I have a stomachache

'Avoir mal à' plus a body part means to have pain there. 'Au' sounds like 'oh', and 'ventre' is nasal: 'vahn-truh'.

Example

J'ai mal au ventre ce matin.

I have a stomachache this morning.

Words in this phrase

[zhay]

Pronoun used by the speaker to refer to himself or herself.

Example

J'aime les bonbons.

I like candies.

[ay]

have

Form of 'avoir' used with past participles to make the past tense.

Example

J'ai beaucoup appris grâce à notre discussion.

I learned a lot thanks to our discussion.

mal

[mal]

pain / ache

Noun meaning pain; 'avoir mal à' means to have pain in a body part.

Example

J'ai mal au dos.

My back hurts.

[oh]

in the

Contraction of 'à + le'; 'croire à' means to believe in.

Example

Je crois au destin.

I believe in destiny.

ventre

[VAHN-truh]

stomach / belly

The abdomen; used in 'avoir mal au ventre' for a stomach ache.

Example

Mon ventre fait du bruit.

My stomach is making noise.

depuis deux jours.

duh-PWEE d-uh zhoor

for two days.

This gives the length of a problem that is still going on. Say 'duh-pwee duh zhoor'.

Example

Je tousse depuis deux jours.

I've been coughing for two days.

Words in this phrase

depuis

[duh-PWEE]

since / for

Used with time expressions to show how long something has been happening.

Example

Depuis trois ans, je développe mon réseau professionnel.

For three years, I have been building my professional network.

deux

[d-uh]

two

The number 2.

Example

Ils sont venus tous les deux.

They both came.

jours

[zhoor]

days

Plural of 'jour', day.

Example

Je reste deux jours.

I'm staying two days.

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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