Mal à vs mal

Question

In the lesson I don’t see the rule for when to use mal without the à
What is it please ?

Céline Pickard · Accepted Answer

Bonjour Kevin,
The lesson is about "faire mal à quelqu'un" versus "faire du mal à quelqu'un". As you can see the expression from the lesson always includes [to someone/à quelqu'un].
You can have the expression "faire mal" on its own in French:
Une piqûre peut faire mal = An injection can hurt
La piqûre d'une guêpe fait mal = The sting of a wasp hurts
EDIT:
The à "disappears" when the person hurt is replaced by an indirect object pronoun (me, te, lui, nous, vous, leur) placed before the verb and that pronoun already means "à + person":
Elle me fait du mal = She hurts me -> à moi / me
Il va lui faire du mal = He is going to hurst her/him -> à elle/lui / her/him
Tu leur as fait du mal = You hurt them -> à eux / them
Take a look here for more: faire mal
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !

Jennifer Coleman · Answer

I’m afraid your response did not clarify Kevin S’s query for me.

The lesson states:

To express to hurt someone (emotionally), you use the expression faire du mal à + person. Examples:

· Il va faire du mal à ma meilleure amie. He's going to hurt my best friend. (emotionally)

· Tu as fait du mal à Paula quand tu as rompu avec elle. You hurt Paula when you broke up with her.

Yet, later in the lesson the examples drop the à for emotional hurt:

· Elle me fait du mal quand elle dit ça. She hurts me when she says that.

What is the rule is for including / excluding the à when referring to emotional hurt ?

Céline Pickard · Answer

Bonjour Jennifer,Youre right! I missed something in my first response.I have now updated it ! See the EDIT part ;-)Merci de votre contribution !Bonne journée !