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How to Say ‘My stomach hurts.’ in Italian

Ho mal di pancia.

oh mahl dee PAHN-chah

[oh mahl dee PAHN-chah]

💬 Usage Tip: Italian says "I have pain of" rather than "my ___ hurts": ho mal di plus the body part. Swap in testa "head" or gola "throat" to get ho mal di testa and ho mal di gola.

Phrase Breakdown

Ho mal

oh mahl

I have pain

'Ho' is from 'avere' (to have). The 'h' is silent, so say 'oh'. 'Mal' is a shortened 'male' (pain).

Example

Ho mal di testa.

I have a headache.

Words in this phrase

[oh]

I have

First person singular of avere, used with a past participle to form the present perfect.

Example

Ho parlato con tre aziende oggi.

I have spoken with three companies today.

mal

[mahl]

pain

An unpleasant sensation indicating harm or discomfort.

Example

Ho un mal di testa.

I have a headache.

di pancia.

dee PAHN-chah

of the stomach / tummy

'Pancia' means belly. Say 'PAHN-chah': 'ci' before 'a' sounds like 'ch'.

Example

Ho la pancia piena.

My stomach is full.

Words in this phrase

[dee]

Preposition linking nouns, often translated as of.

Example

Che tipo di ruolo è disponibile?

What kind of role is available?

pancia

[PAHN-chah]

stomach

The organ where food is digested.

Example

Mi fa male la pancia.

My stomach hurts.

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