Lesson 29 Notes

May 28th, 2007
CoffeeBreakSpanish.com
In this edition:
more aches and
pains, illnesses
and useful
language for a
visit to the
pharmacy
Lesson 29
Notes
Necesita tomar estos comprimidos
Lesson 29
Programme Notes
Welcome to Coffee Break Spanish, the podcast
aimed at independent learners of Spanish. In
Coffee Break Spanish we’ll be guiding you
through the basics of the Spanish language and
helping you to learn to communicate in Spain
and Spanish-speaking countries.
We already know that the word duele(n) has
something to do with pain. It comes from the
verb doler which can be translated literally as “to
hurt”. Doler is linked to the Spanish noun el dolor,
meaning “pain”. So in addition to saying me duele
la cabeza, we can also say:
This lesson continues where the previous lesson
left off and covers more language which will help
you if you’re not feeling well and have to visit a
doctor or a pharmacist.
tengo dolor de cabeza
I have a headache
(lit. “I have pain of head”)
Recap
tengo dolor de estómago
I have a sore stomach
(lit. “I have pain of stomach”)
In last week’s lesson we learned a number of
body parts and the phrase me duele / me duelen.
This allowed us to explain where the pain was.
Have a look at these examples and see if you
remember how they are formed:
me duele la cabeza
I have a sore head / my head hurts
me duele el hombro
I have a sore shoulder / my shoulder
hurts
It may seem a little silly to be learning two ways
of saying the same thing. However, now that we
know what the phrase for “headache” or “sore
stomach” is, we can now ask “do you have
something for a headache” in a pharmacy
situation:
¿tiene algo para el dolor de cabeza?
do you have something for a headache?
Dolor de cabeza, dolor de garganta, etc. can be added
to a list of illnesses and complaints. Here is a list
of some possible problems:
We also covered the phrase:
¿dónde le duele?
where is it sore? / where does it hurt?
A little more pain...
In this week’s lesson we’ll be learning an
alternative way to talk about parts of your body
which are sore.
1
la tos
cough
una infección
infection
un sarpullido
rash
la diarrea
diarrhoea
una quemadura
de sol
sunburn
All of these words can be combined with ¿tiene
algo para...? in a pharmacy situation:
¿tiene algo para la tos?
do you have something for a cough?
¿tiene algo para la diarrea?
do you have something for diarrhoea?
Other symptoms
Before we learn some likely responses from the
doctor or pharmacist, here are some further
symptoms you may need to describe.
estoy mareado/a
I feel dizzy / queasy
Note that mareado is an adjective and therefore
changes its ending depending on who is feeling
dizzy. Note also that because feeling dizzy or
queasy is thankfully a temporary feeling, you use
the verb estar.
If there are things that you can’t do because of
your illness, you can use the phrase:
no puedo ...
I cannot ...
Here are some examples using this:
no puedo dormir
I can’t sleep
no puedo respirar
I can’t breathe
Your prescription
Having explained your symptoms to the doctor
or the pharmacist you may be given one or more
of the following items:
una píldora
pill
un comprimido
pill, tablet
una crema
cream
If the doctor or pharmacist wants you to take or
use the above items, he or she is likely to say:
Coffee Break Spanish: Lesson 29
necesita tomar esto
you need to take this
They may be more specific and use a phrase like:
necesita tomar estas píldoras
you need to take these pills
necesita tomar estos comprimidos
you need to take these tablets
necesita poner esta crema
you need to put on this cream
We’ve already covered the various ways to say
“this” and “these”, but here is a reminder of the
forms. First, let’s consider the general word for
“this”. This is used when you’re not referring to
something specifically.
esto
this (general)
When you’re being specific about something, ie.
saying “this cream”, “these pills”, etc. you use the
following forms:
este
this (masc sing)
esta
this (fem sing)
estos
these (masc plur)
estas
these (fem plur)
If you’re given a cream or tablets then it’s
important to know how often you need to take
them. You can ask:
¿cuántas veces al día?
how many times per day?
The word vez means “time”, as in “occasion”:
¿cuántas veces al día? - “how many times per day”.
You may therefore hear something like:
necesita tomar estas píldoras
cuatro veces al día
you need to take these pills
four times daily
page 2
necesita tomar estos comprimidos
dos veces al día
you need to take these tablets
twice daily
It is also possible that the doctor or pharmacist
specifies:
antes de comer
before eating
después de comer
after eating
Note that in Spanish to say “after doing
something” or “before doing something” you use
the phrase antes de or después de followed by the
infinitive. Now, you may be wondering why the
Coffee Break Spanish: Lesson 29
infinitive isn’t translated as “to eat” in this
situation. It is in fact very common for the “-ing”
form of the verb in English to be translated by
the infinitive in Spanish. Think of the phrase me
gusta cantar. You should remember that this means
“I like to sing”. It can also, however, be
translated as “I like singing”, but the infinitive
cantar is always used in Spanish.
Let’s practise the construction “before/after
doing something” with a short exercise. You
already know many infinitives, so you can now
see how much new language you can create by
translating these short phrases. Answers can be
found at the end of this week’s guide.
1.
“before singing”
2.
“after buying a coffee”
3.
“before drinking a glass of wine”
4.
“after listening to music”
5.
“before turning right”
page 3
CoffeeBreakSpanish: Lesson 29 - Basic Vocabulary
el dolor
pain
el dolor de cabeza
headache
el dolor de estómago
stomach ache
¿tiene algo para ....?
do you have something for ...?
la tos
cough
una infección
infection
un sarpullido
rash
la diarrea
diarrhoea
una quemadura de sol
sunburn
mareado/a
dizzy, queasy
no puedo ...
I cannot ...
dormir
to sleep
respirar
to breathe
una píldora
pill
un comprimido
tablet
una crema
cream
necesita tomar esto
you need to take this
necesita tomar estos comprimidos
you need to take these tablets
necesita tomar estas píldoras
you need to take these pills
necesita poner esta crema
you need to put on this cream
¿cuántas veces al día?
how many times a day?
dos veces al día
twice daily
tres veces al día
three times daily
una vez
one time / once
antes de + infinitive
before doing something
después de + infinitive
after doing something
CoffeeBreakSpanish: Lesson 29 - Bonus Vocabulary
tengo alergía a
I’m allergic to ...
tengo alergía a los antibióticos
I’m allergic to antibiotics
tengo alergía a la penicilina
I’m allergic to penicillin
tengo alergía al polen
I have hay fever
estoy embarazada
I’m pregnant
necesito darle una inyección
I need to give you an injection
tiene que ir al hospital
you heed to go to hospital
¿es algo grave?
is it serious?
Coffee Break Spanish: Lesson 29
page 4
no es nada grave
it’s nothing serious
tengo fiebre
I have a temperature / fever
necesita terminar el tratamiento
you must finish the course (antibiotics)
tengo el tobillo hinchado
my ankle is swollen*
pica mucho
it itches a lot / it’s very itchy
Answers to exercise
1.
antes de dormir
2.
3.
después de comprar un café
antes de beber una copa de vino
4.
después de escuchar música
5.
antes de girar / doblar a la derecha
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Coffee Break Spanish: Lesson 29
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