Look at these sentences:
J'ai du mal à respecter mon régime.
I struggle to stick to my diet.
Ils ont toujours du mal à finir leur repas.
They always struggle to finish their meal.
Tu as du mal avec cet exercice de maths.
You're having trouble with this math exercise.
Martin avait du mal avec la science à l'école.
Martin used to struggle with science at school.
To express to struggle to [do something], to have trouble [doing something], in French, you use the idiomatic expression avoir du mal à + [infinitive].
You can also use avoir du mal avec + [noun] in order to say to struggle with [something], to have trouble/difficulty with [something].
The expression Avoir du mal never means to hurt, to ache nor can be used in the sense of fighting for [something].
Les femmes se battent pour leurs droits tous les jours.
Women struggle for their rights every day.
Also not to be confused with Avoir mal (à) = To be in pain, to hurt somewhere
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
J'ai du mal à respecter mon régime.
I struggle to stick to my diet.
Tu as du mal avec cet exercice de maths.
You're having trouble with this math exercise.
Martin avait du mal avec la science à l'école.
Martin used to struggle with science at school.
Ils ont toujours du mal à finir leur repas.
They always struggle to finish their meal.
counter example
Les femmes se battent pour leurs droits tous les jours.
Women struggle for their rights every day.
Q&A
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
18/04/17
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
7/04/17
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
9/09/16
sue
Kwiziq community member
10/09/16
CrystalMaiden
Kwiziq community member
3 May 2018
1 reply
Difference between this and verb avec difficulté?
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
6 May 2018
6/05/18
Hi CrystalMaiden,
'Avoir des difficultés à faire quelquechose' is more formal, used in medical terms.
'Avoir du mal...' is more idiomatic and used widely by the French in normal speech.
Hope this helps!