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French Expression
| Meaning | to have trouble, difficulty (doing) | |
| Literally | to have some bad (doing) | |
| Register | normal | |
| Pronunciation | [ah vwar du mah lah] | |
| IPA | [a vwaʁ dy ma la] | |
Usage notes: The French phrase avoir du mal à is followed by an infinitive to indicate that a person has or is having trouble doing something.
Par exemple…
| Il a du mal à conduire la nuit. | He has trouble driving at night. | |
| J’ai du mal à comprendre cette décision. | I’m having trouble understanding this decision. |
If an activity has already been mentioned, à + infinitive can be dropped.
| Je veux trouver un meilleur emploi mais j’ai du mal. | I want to find a better job but I’m having trouble (finding one). | |
| Jeannot a déjà choisi un jouet mais Anny a du mal. | Jeannot has already chosen a toy but Anny is having trouble (choosing). |
Variation: avoir du mal avec + noun – to have trouble with (the neighbors, a dog, one’s job, etc)
Related lessons
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Synonym: avoir des difficultés à + infinitive | avec + noun
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