French commonly describes pain by locating the part of the body that hurts or by describing the pain itself. This topic builds on common vocabulary for parts of the body by adding the words and expressions needed to describe intensity, sensation, duration, and change.
In a medical conversation, a short description may be enough for a familiar ache, while a more precise description helps when someone needs to understand how the pain feels or how it has developed.
For broader health vocabulary, see Describing your symptoms.
Core words and expressions for pain
These words and expressions distinguish the body part that hurts from the pain itself, then add common descriptions of strength, pattern, and time:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| avoir mal à | to have pain in / to hurt |
| avoir un peu mal | to hurt a little |
| avoir très mal | to hurt a lot |
| une douleur | pain / an ache |
| une douleur légère | mild pain |
| une douleur intense | intense pain |
| une douleur sourde | dull pain / a dull ache |
| une douleur constante | constant pain |
| une douleur intermittente | pain that comes and goes / intermittent pain |
| une sensation de brûlure | a burning sensation |
| depuis | since / for |
| de plus en plus | more and more |
Avoir mal à focuses on the part of the body that hurts. Une douleur focuses on the pain itself, so it combines naturally with descriptions such as légère, intense, sourde, constante, and intermittente.
With a starting point, depuis corresponds to "since" in English. With a length of time, it corresponds to "for."
Locate the pain
A pain description may identify only the affected body part or may narrow the location with a side or a smaller area. These examples show common ways to give that location:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| J'ai mal à la tête. | My head hurts. / I have a headache. |
| Elle a mal au dos. | Her back hurts. |
| Tu as mal à l'épaule droite ? | Does your right shoulder hurt? |
| J'ai mal en bas du dos. | My lower back hurts. |
With avoir mal à, the body part identifies where the pain is. A side such as droite or a more precise area such as en bas du dos narrows the location when needed.
Describe intensity and sensation
Pain may be described by its strength, its pattern, or the physical sensation it produces. These sentences show how the core vocabulary appears in everyday and medical descriptions:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| J'ai un peu mal au poignet. | My wrist hurts a little. |
| J'ai très mal à l'épaule droite. | My right shoulder hurts a lot. |
| J'ai une douleur légère au genou. | I have mild pain in my knee. |
| J'ai une douleur intense au genou. | I have intense pain in my knee. |
| J'ai une douleur sourde dans le dos. | I have a dull ache in my back. |
| La douleur est intermittente. | The pain comes and goes. |
| J'ai une sensation de brûlure dans la jambe. | I have a burning sensation in my leg. |
When the painful area is already clear, short expressions can describe the sensation without repeating the body part. These expressions are useful as complete learning units:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Ça brûle. | It burns. |
| Ça pique. | It stings. |
| Ça tire. | It feels like it's pulling. / It feels tight. |
| Ça lance. | It throbs. / It shoots. |
Ça tire describes a pulling or tight sensation. Ça lance can describe pain felt in pulses or pain that shoots through an area, so the natural English translation depends on context.
Say when the pain started
A time reference may identify the point when continuing pain began or the length of time it has been present. These sentences contrast those uses with a statement about when the pain began:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| J'ai mal depuis ce matin. | I've been in pain since this morning. |
| J'ai cette douleur depuis deux jours. | I've had this pain for two days. |
| La douleur est constante depuis ce matin. | The pain has been constant since this morning. |
| La douleur a commencé hier soir. | The pain started last night. |
The sentences with depuis describe pain that is still present. A sentence with commencer identifies the beginning of the pain without stating by itself whether the pain continues.
Describe a change in pain
These verbs and expressions describe whether pain is improving, becoming stronger, or failing to improve:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| aller mieux | to get better / to feel better |
| diminuer | to decrease / to lessen |
| augmenter | to increase / to get worse |
| s'améliorer | to improve |
The same words work in short updates about how pain has changed over time. These examples show common patient descriptions:
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Ça va mieux aujourd'hui. | It's better today. |
| La douleur diminue. | The pain is easing. |
| La douleur augmente. | The pain is getting worse. |
| Ça fait de plus en plus mal. | It hurts more and more. |
| Ça ne s'améliore pas. | It's not getting better. |
Augmenter describes an increase, while the natural English translation may be "getting worse" when the subject is pain. Aller mieux gives a general improvement and does not require the speaker to describe exactly what changed.
From learning to practice
When you hear pain described in a medical conversation or scene, listen for the extra detail added to the first mention of pain. Notice whether the speaker gives a more precise location, describes a sensation, adds a time reference, or reports a change.