"I have pain in my neck."
Translation:J'ai une douleur dans le cou.
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1890
I think that "J'ai une douleur dans mon cou" should be acceptable? Oui? Non? Dites moi pourquoi s'il vous plait.
In English we use possessive adjectives in front of body parts (my, your, his, etc.), but in French a definite article is typically used when the owner of that body part is obvious (le, la, l'). J'ai une douleur dans le cou. Clearly I have a pain in my own neck and not someone else's so the definite article "le" is most appropriate here. You will typically find this construct with the verb avoir.
Here is a link with more info: https://french.kwiziq.com/revision/grammar/using-le-la-les-with-body-parts-and-clothing-definite-articles
854
But why would "de la douleur" be incorrect? I thought when it meant "some pain'" or just "pain" you would use the partitive.
Pain or douleur is a feminine noun in French, and so it requires an article. In French this is a specific, singular pain in the neck. To describe more general pain, you can use "la douleur."
I couldn't find any reference materials, but here is a good example of "douleur" being used in real life.
1673
Although i have learned to put 'le cou' in this sentence I do wonder why 'mon cou' is incorrect as it does say 'my neck'.