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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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Fear of speaking, glossophobia, is one of the most common phobias – even just in one’s native language. If you feel nervous when speaking French, it’s probably due to a lack of confidence in your skills. The obvious solution is to improve your French, but there are also other ways to increase your confidence and feel more comfortable speaking French.
Learn how to translate French infinitives, imperatives, and participles into English.
