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最近我常常会莫名其妙的头疼

I've encountered this sentence and I'm wondering why there's 会 used here. Would this sentence be correct without 会?

Would this sentence be correct? 我常常头疼

Would this sentence be correct? 我头疼

I'm asking because my first thought about speaking about headache would be to use 有. So would this sentence be correct? 我有头疼

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  • No, because grammatically, 我頭疼 translates to My head hurts, not I have a headache.
    – dROOOze
    Nov 13, 2020 at 23:56

5 Answers 5

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I'm wondering why there's 会 used here.

会 in here mean always. I'm always getting headaches.

Would this sentence be correct? 我常常头疼

Yes, it is correct

Would this sentence be correct? 我头疼

Yes, it is correct

So would this sentence be correct? 我有头疼

Incorrect. You can't use 有 in this sentences. If you want to use it, the correct should be 我刚刚有头疼

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  • 我有头疼 sounds like Guoyu tho (i.e. Taiwanese Mandarin) - not sure how grammatical it is considered.
    – Mou某
    Nov 13, 2020 at 17:12
  • 头疼 in 我头疼 is a verb; 头疼 in 我有头疼 is a noun
    – Tang Ho
    Nov 13, 2020 at 23:29
  • 我有头疼 is an English influence -- "I have a headache" Nov 14, 2020 at 2:08
  • 我有头疼 sounds weird to me
    – John Joe
    Nov 14, 2020 at 5:36
  • 1
    Yes, it's like saying 我有口渴 Nov 14, 2020 at 6:07
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  • 头疼 in 我头疼 is a verb

  • 头疼 in 我有头疼 is a noun

[最近][我][常常][会][莫名其妙(地/的)][头疼]

[recently][I][often][would][mysteriously][having headache]

"莫名其妙(地/的)" is an adverb, therefore "头疼" here is an intransitive verb

'会' means 'would'. You can omit it in this sentence

~

[最近][我][常常][有][莫名其妙的)][头疼]

[recently][I][often][have][mysterious][headache]

'有' is a verb; '莫名其妙的' is an adjective phrase, therefore, 头疼 is a noun.

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  • "头疼 in 我有头疼 is a noun" - are you sure? If I heard that I'd assume the speaker is Taiwanese and the 有 is Minnan dialect influence, with 头疼 remaining a verb. Nov 14, 2020 at 0:58
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"会" in the sentence is an 助动词 (auxiliary verb), which means 表示有可能实现 (be possible to achieve). See the definition in 百度百科。例子:如果你考试题都会(known well)做,你就不会(possible to)头疼。

As you see, 会 implies uncertainty. So that see the following:

我头疼。Yes, you have headache, right now. By the way, this is actually 我(的)头疼 with 的 omitted.

我常常头疼。Yes, you have headache, always. By the way, this is actually 我常常(感到)头疼 with 感到 omitted.

我常常会头疼。This one is almost interchangeable with the previous one, but not as confident, because there is an implication of possibility. For example, "Dad, 我头疼,不想写作业了",or "Doctor, 我常常头疼,给我开药", or "Whenever I saw the face of Mr. Trump, 我就常常会感到头疼"。You see the difference? Because of the possibility, it is often used with other word implicating uncertainty. For example, 我的头常常会感到有些/若有似无的/莫名其妙的疼。It is pretty intuitive to compare "会" and "不会" with possible and impossible.

我有头疼 is awkwardly correct in grammar if you consider 头疼 as headache which is a noun. However, Chinese has some set structures, "头疼" is not something you can "有"。You should say you "感到头疼", or you 有/患有 some "病/症/疾" instead. You can say, 我感到头疼/头晕/头胀,我有头疼的毛病,我有头痛之疾,我有痴呆症。Without the 感到 or 病/症/疾, those are not Chinese convention, though still understandable.

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There's no use trying to unlock the door, it will not open.

will here describes a objective present state (the door can't be opened), and in your sentence acts exactly the same.
According to Xiandai Hanyu Cidian (现代汉语词典, Modern Chinese Dictionary), "头痛" (or "头疼") is an adjective, so I suppose that "最近我常常会莫名其妙的头疼" has left out a verb "感到 (feel)". Its full form ought to be

最近我常常会莫名其妙感到头疼。

(P.S. You should use in this sentence instead of , see Differentating De.)
We usually do NOT use "有 (have)" for 头疼, for it's an adjective.

Common verbs for discomforts:

  • 感到 (feel): Bad feelings or aches, eg. 头疼/头痛 (headache), 累/疲劳/疲惫/疲倦 (tired), 不舒服/难受 (uncomfortable), 精疲力竭 (be burned out)
  • 患了/患有 (have got, the latter is more formal): Illnesses, eg. 感冒 (cold), 流感 (flu), 新冠肺炎 (COVID-19), 癌症 (cancer), 心脏病 (heart attack)
  • For a illness that is both a noun and a verb, usually we use its verb form: Eg. 骨折 (bone fracture/to break a bone), 癫痫 (epilepsy/to have a epilepsy), 咳嗽 (cough/to cough)
    • There are exceptions in which we use either form free of choice: Eg. 感冒 (cold/to catch a cold)
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最近我常常会莫名其妙的头疼

With 会, it adds a bit certainty. We can probably use "would" to interpret here. It's more perspective or subjective.

最近我常常莫名其妙的头疼

Without 会,the sentence states the fact that the headaches often occurred during these days. It's more factual.

However the nuance above is very subtle. We can use them interchangeably in practice. No one would care about it.

有头痛 sounds more like the universal 有 in Taiwanese dialect. E. g. 你吃饭了吗? 我有吃饭啊。

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