| Let's look at the sentence pattern. |
| This pattern is the structure that all of our examples will follow. |
| avere mal di/ male a + body part |
| "to have a pain/ache in + body part" |
| This pattern is used to describe common physical discomforts, like headaches or stomachaches. |
| Let's look at the elements in this pattern. |
| First is the verb avere, meaning "to have." This verb tells us that the speaker possesses or experiences something—in this case, pain. |
| Next is the expression mal di or male a. These both refer to pain but are used slightly differently. |
| Mal di is commonly followed by internal or general body parts, like testa "head," stomaco "stomach," schiena "back." |
| Mal di is a fixed expression that doesn't change form, regardless of gender or number, unlike male a. |
| Male a is often used with more external or visible parts, like gamba "leg," braccio "arm," mano "hand." |
| After that comes the body part, which is the location of the pain; it follows either mal di or male a, depending on the word used. These body part nouns can be masculine or feminine, and either singular or plural—a fact that determines the form of other words in the sentence. |
| Let's see how a line from the dialogue follows this pattern. |
| Ho mal di testa. Ho anche mal di stomaco. |
| "I have a headache. I also have a stomachache." |
| In this sentence: |
| Ho is the first person singular of the verb avere, meaning "I have." |
| Mal di is the fixed phrase meaning "ache of." |
| Testa, meaning "head," is the body part mentioned. |
| So Ho mal di testa means "I have a headache." |
| In the next part: |
| Anche means "also." This is not part of our pattern. |
| Then we again see mal di, followed by stomaco, meaning "stomach." |
| So Ho anche mal di stomaco means "I also have a stomachache." |
| With this pattern, [avere mal di or male a plus body part], you can describe feeling pain anywhere on your body! |
| When using male a, the preposition [a] combines with the correct definite article for the body part, depending on whether it's masculine or feminine, singular or plural—for example: |
| a + il = al, |
| a + la = alla, |
| a + gli = agli, |
| a + le = alle. |
| Now let's look at some speaking examples. |
| Ho mal di schiena. |
| "I have a backache." |
| Can you see how the pattern applies here? |
| Let's break it down: |
| Here, Ho is the verb. It comes from avere, meaning "to have." This shows the speaker is experiencing something. |
| Mal di is a fixed expression used to describe an ache or pain. It literally means "ache of." |
| Schiena is the noun meaning "back." It's the body part that's affected. |
| So, this is how Ho mal di schiena. fits the pattern avere mal di + body part—and it translates to "I have a backache." |
| Here's another example |
| Ho male a una gamba. |
| "I have a sore leg." |
| In this example, you can see the [male a] version, since gamba "leg" is an external and visible body part. |
| Ho male a una gamba. |
| "I have a sore leg." |
| Let's try one more, |
| Ho mal d'orecchio. Ho anche mal di denti. |
| "I have an earache. I also have a toothache." |
| Ho mal d'orecchio. Ho anche mal di denti. |
| "I have an earache. I also have a toothache." |
| Another one. |
| Ho male agli occhi. |
| "I have sore eyes." |
| In this sentence, we use agli instead of just a. |
| The correct definite article for "the eyes" is gli. |
| The structure we use is [male a], because eyes are visible body parts, but |
| when you combine a plus gli, it contracts to agli. |
| Ho male agli occhi. |
| "I have sore eyes." |
| One last example. |
| Ho male alle ginocchia. |
| "My knees hurt." |
| Here we combine a plus le, the definite article for "the knees," which contracts to alle. |
| Ho male alle ginocchia. |
| "My knees hurt." |
Comments
Hide