Spanish health vocabulary: the body, symptoms and the doctor
¿Dónde le duele? · tap where it hurts
Me duele la cabeza.
Meto-meduelehurtslathecabeza.head
meh DWEH-leh lah kah-BEH-thah · “My head hurts.”Why:la cabeza is singular, so duele. Doler works like gustar: the body part is the subject, and me says who feels it. Spanish says la, never “my”.
Short answer: Spanish turns pain round: me duele la cabeza, literally “the head hurts me”, with duelen for two or more things. Body parts take el or la, not “my”. Symptoms mostly use tener (tengo fiebre, “I have a temperature”), and states use estar (estoy mareado, “I feel dizzy”). The emergency number across the EU is 112.
Parts of the body
The face and the body
Learn every word with el or la, shown in a colour: red for feminine, dark for masculine. Watch la mano (hand): it ends in -o but is feminine. And Spanish has two “ears”: la oreja outside, el oído inside.
La cara · the face
El cuerpo · the body
Brazos y piernas · limbs
Symptoms
Tengo, estoy or me duele?
Every symptom belongs to one of three patterns. A thing you “have” takes tener; a state you are in takes estar, and its adjective (describing word) changes -o to -a for a woman; pain takes doler. Tap any phrase.
tengo …things you have
estoy …states you are in
me duele …pain
Estoy embarazada (es-TOY em-bah-rah-THAH-dah) means “I’m pregnant”. “I’m embarrassed” is me da vergüenza.
At the doctor
A visit to the centro de salud, step by step
In Spain your local surgery is el centro de salud (health centre), and you see el médico de cabecera (your GP). The doctor will speak to you as usted, the polite “you”.
1
Pedir cita · booking
Tú
QueríaI-wantedpedirto-ask-forcitaappointmentconwithel médico.the doctor
keh-REE-ah peh-DEER THEE-tah kon el MEH-dee-koh · “I’d like to make an appointment with the doctor.”
Recepción
¿Tieneyou-havelathetarjetacardsanitaria?health
TYEH-neh lah tar-HEH-tah sah-nee-TAH-ryah · “Do you have your health card?”
KAH-dah OH-choh OH-rahs, doo-RAN-teh OO-nah seh-MAH-nah · “Every eight hours, for a week.”
Tú
Muchasmanygracias,thanksdoctora.doctor
MOO-chahs GRAH-thyahs, dok-TOH-rah · “Thank you very much, doctor.”
At the pharmacy
Reading the medicine box
Spanish pharmacies (la farmacia, with a green cross) give advice on minor problems and sell many medicines without a receta (prescription). These are the instructions you will read on the box or hear at the counter.