Mal à l’oreille où mal aux oreille?

Question

This is in the lesson examples:
Sophie a mal à l'oreille.Sophie's ear aches. Sophie has an earache
But when I entered « Aurélie a mal à l’oreille » as the quiz answer it said I was wrong and should have answered « Aurélie a mal aux oreilles ». Which version is actually correct?

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Aoede,
There is a difference 
Aurélie a mal à l’oreille = Aurélie’s ear aches / Aurélie has an earache. (singular / the one ear)
The question from the kwiz was about the plural form: à + les
Aurélie's ears ache = Aurélie a mal aux oreilles (both of them hurt)
 
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée!

Answer

Singular: avoir mal à l'oreille

Plural: avoir mal aux oreilles

Correct answer depends on the specific question, so best to report through the issue button, which links your answer to the quiz for clarification.

Answer

After wasting too much time researching this, I conclude that both work just fine. The only clear guidance I've found is in Word Reference which goes with "à l'oreille." I've found no support for "aux oreilles."

Answer

After wasting too much time researching this, I conclude that both work just fine. The only clear guidance I've found is in Word Reference which goes with "à l'oreille." I've found no support for "aux oreilles."

Answer

Wordreference has both listed under 'earache', as does Larousse bilingual.https://www.wordreference.com/enfr/earachehttps://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/anglais-francais/earache/577509

Answer

Bonjour Max,
As a native speaker, there is a difference between both expressions: 'avoir mal à l'oreille' means that one ear is aching whilst 'avoir mal aux oreilles' involves both ears. 
See examples below:

Lucie a mal aux oreilles = Lucie's ears ache / Lucie has an earache
Lucie a mal à l'oreille = Lucie's ear ache / Lucie has an earache
J'ai mal à l'oreille = my ear aches / I have an earache
J'ai mal aux oreilles = my ears ache / I have an earache

I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !