noun, masculine/mal/plural: maux
mal is masculine in French.
trouble, difficulty; pain; evil; damage, harm
“J'ai du mal à m'imaginer ça.” — I have trouble imagining that.
Synonyms: problème, emmerde, misère, difficulté, douleur, tort, dommage
From Old French mal, from Latin malus, possibly derived from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mel- (“bad, wrong”). Near cognates include Portuguese mal, Italian male and Spanish malo.