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Health, Fitness and Illness

FoundationHigherAQA

Understand Health, Fitness and Illness for GCSE French with this free worksheet and full mark scheme — Foundation and Higher exam-style practice with worked answers for AQA GCSE French (8652). This topic covers staying healthy, exercise, illness and parts of the body.

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These worksheets and mark schemes are original, written for Virtus Academy and checked against the current AQA specification. Every worksheet comes with a full mark scheme.

Foundation

WorksheetFoundation · PDFMark SchemeFoundation · PDF

Higher

WorksheetHigher · PDFMark SchemeHigher · PDF

Topic overview

Health vocabulary centres on two structures that must be learned as fixed patterns rather than translated word by word.

Avoir mal à means to have pain in, and it uses the definite article with contractions. J'ai mal à la tête means my head hurts. J'ai mal au ventre uses au because ventre is masculine. J'ai mal aux dents uses aux for the plural.

The other pattern is être en forme for being fit, and se sentir for how you feel: je me sens malade. For healthy living, useful phrases are faire du sport, manger équilibré, and éviter le tabac. Note that faire takes the partitive: faire du sport, faire de la natation.

Revision notes

Avoir mal à

J'ai mal à la tête — my head hurts.

The contraction rules apply: j'ai mal au ventre for a masculine noun, j'ai mal aux dents for a plural. French uses the definite article where English uses a possessive.

Feeling and fitness

Se sentir for how you feel: je me sens malade, je me sens mieux.

Être en forme means to be fit. Être fatigué, être malade, avoir de la fièvre are all useful and each uses a different verb, so they must be learned individually.

Healthy living

Faire du sport, faire de la natation — note the partitive after faire.

Manger équilibré, éviter le tabac, boire beaucoup d'eau. These are the phrases that turn a list of vocabulary into an opinion about lifestyle.

Key points

  • Avoir mal à means to have pain in.
  • J'ai mal à la tête uses the article.
  • Contractions apply: au and aux.
  • Se sentir describes how you feel.
  • Être en forme means to be fit.
  • Faire takes the partitive for sports.

Worked examples

Example 1

Translate: my head hurts. [2 marks]

Working

J'ai mal à la têteuse avoir mal à with the definite article
French uses la rather than a possessive for body partsexplain the article

Example 2

Translate: my stomach hurts. [2 marks]

Working

J'ai mal au ventreuse avoir mal à with the contraction
À and le contract to au because ventre is masculineapply the contraction rule

Example 3

Translate: I do a lot of sport. [2 marks]

Working

Je fais beaucoup de sportuse faire with the quantity expression
Du collapses to de after beaucoupapply the partitive rule

Common mistakes

  • Using a possessive with avoir mal.

    J'ai mal à la tête, not à ma tête.

  • Forgetting the contraction.

    Au ventre, not à le ventre.

  • Omitting the partitive after faire.

    Je fais du sport, not je fais sport.

  • Using avoir for feeling.

    Je me sens malade uses se sentir.

Exam tips

  • Learn avoir mal à with its contractions.
  • Use the definite article for body parts.
  • Use the partitive after faire for sports.
  • Learn each health phrase with its verb.

Key terms

Avoir mal à
To have pain in a part of the body.
Se sentir
To feel, used reflexively.
Être en forme
To be fit.
Contraction
À plus le becoming au.

Related topics

Written and reviewed against the current AQA specification. Spotted an error? Let us know.