Example: J'ai du mal à comprendre ce nouveau concept en classe.
Definition
"Avoir du mal à" means to experience difficulty or struggle when trying to do something, often implying that the task is challenging or requires extra effort. For example, in the phrase "J'ai du mal à comprendre," it expresses having trouble understanding.
Translations
To have trouble
Tener dificultades para
Moeite hebben met
Tenir dificultats per
Schwierigkeiten haben
Etymology
The phrase "avoir du mal à" comes from French, where "avoir" means 'to have' and "mal" means 'bad' or 'difficulty.' Together, they convey the notion of 'having difficulty' with an action, a vivid way to express struggle. Did you know this expression literally means 'to have bad at' something?
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"Avoir du mal à" appears in the Vocaplus list "", containing 119 commonly used expressions.
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To have trouble