"It hurts": em fa mal
Pain is built inside out: the subject is the body part, and the person gets a "to me". Em fa mal el cap literally — "the head makes pain to me". For example: “Li fa mal la gola” — His throat hurts. A rule from the Catalan course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Pain is built inside out: the subject is the body part, and the person gets a "to me". Em fa mal el cap literally — "the head makes pain to me".
Plural body parts take fan mal: em fan mal les cames — my legs hurt. Somebody else's pain: "li fa mal".
The same device in "tenir": tinc febre — I have a fever, literally "I hold a fever" — like English "I have a cold", only more general.
By example
- Li fa mal la golaHis throat hurts
- Ens fan mal les dentsOur teeth hurt
- Tinc febre i tosI have a fever and a cough
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
"It hurts": how does it work in Catalan?
Pain is built inside out: the subject is the body part, and the person gets a "to me". Em fa mal el cap literally — "the head makes pain to me".
What does it look like in an example sentence Catalan?
“Li fa mal la gola” — His throat hurts. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.