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- Topic: French >
- "Ça me donne mal au ventre."
24 Comments
1318
Question: "mal" is a generic tern, and has been translated to "pain" or "ache" or simply "sick". What are the specific words for different types of symptoms please?
Ça me donne mal au ventre, in this context means pain or ache. "Sick" was added to appease some, but it isn't quite the same meaning. If you talk about "mal au ventre" it will be understood by francophones that you are experiencing pain in the belly region.
"Mal au cœur", oddly enough, means your stomach is queasy/sick, and NOT that you are feeling chest or heart pain.
The words “gives” and “tummy ache” are not even available choices. I had to answer “That makes my stomach sick” — those were the only choices that made sense.
Unfortunately we don't have control over which translation you receive for a tile exercise. That means less likely translations (while still correct) may pop up.
Ok. But my translation should not have been marked as Incorrect then. It was the only possibility (although definitely not the way I would say it as a native English speaker).
It's a fairly common expression and is found here in Collins English dictionary. However, English varies regionally, which is why we try to accommodate many common variants.
"That makes my stomach sick" is not accepted? "Gives" was not in the word bank but "make" was. Comment? Je l'ai rapporté. If I were saying this in my vernacular, I would say, "That makes me sick in my stomach." "Tummy" is for toddlers.
"Mal au ventre" in French is really referring to intestinal pain or pain in the midsection rather than a queasy stomach. Out of delicacy, sometimes in English we refer to the stomach when we really mean something else...
- 1318
Are they the same to say " stomach ache " and " tummy ache"? I always thought they were different. I though that stomache ache is the upper section, and tummy ache is the lower section.
Are anyone else thinking the same as me?
No, not the same. Stomachache is accepted, but it really isn't the best meaning here. You are right, the pain is in the lower section for "mal au ventre."
I put 'This gives me a stomach pain'. Is there a different word for pain vs ache?
- 346
"Mal au ventre" I believe is pain in the belly, in general (it could be the stomach or the intestines). "Mal à l'estomac" I believe is the stomachache specifically
''pain in the belly'' or ''pain in the gut'' are what we would say, eastern USA
- 504
"I had a pain in my stomach" is not accepted. "That gives me a pain in my stomach", either. Anyone can let me know the reason? English is not my native language.
Hello,
Had is the past tense, the French sentence is in the present tense. However, "that gives me a pain in my belly/tummy/stomach" means the same thing.
- 504
Ah, thanks. I forgot whether I really filled in "had" in the answer or just a typo in this comment, but yes if it were "had" that is my mistake. I'll try it again to check it out.
Is this wrong please? Sa me donne mal au ventre, because I typed that and it was rejected
