Health and Illness
Learn 20 easy A1 English words for health and illness - ill, fever, headache, doctor, medicine - with examples, a story and a quiz.
One day you will need to explain to somebody that you do not feel well, and that day you will not have time to look words up. These 20 words cover what hurts, who helps and what you take. Learn them, then spend a Sunday in a waiting room with my grandfather, who is never ill.
20 words to learn
The 20 words
/ɪl/
Not well. Americans usually say sick.
I stayed at home because I was ill.
/ˈhelθi/
Strong and well. Also used for food that is good for you.
My grandfather is eighty and very healthy.
/peɪn/
The bad feeling in your body when something is wrong.
I have a pain in my back.
/hɜːt/
To give pain, or to feel pain. Past tense is also hurt.
My knee hurts when I run.
/ˈhedeɪk/
A pain in your head.
I have a bad headache today.
/ˈfiːvə(r)/
When your body is much hotter than normal.
The child has a fever of thirty-nine.
/kəʊld/
A common small illness: you cough and your nose runs.
I caught a cold on the bus.
/kɒf/
To push air out of your throat with a noise. Say KOF.
He coughs all night.
/ˈdɒktə(r)/
The person who examines you and says what is wrong.
You should see a doctor.
/nɜːs/
The person who looks after patients in a hospital or clinic.
The nurse called my name.
/ˈhɒspɪtl/
The big building where very ill people stay.
She spent two nights in hospital.
/ˈmedsn/
What you take to get better. Say MED-sin.
Take this medicine after food.
/ˈfɑːməsi/
The shop that sells medicine. Also called a chemist in Britain.
There is a pharmacy next to the clinic.
/əˈpɔɪntmənt/
A time you arrange to see the doctor.
I have an appointment at two o’clock.
/rest/
To stop working and let your body get better.
You must rest for three days.
/ˈbetə(r)/
Less ill than before.
I feel much better today, thank you.
/ˈtemprətʃə(r)/
How hot your body is. To have a temperature = to be too hot.
The nurse took my temperature.
/ˈtæblət/
A small hard piece of medicine that you swallow. Also called a pill.
One tablet in the morning and one at night.
/ˈbrəʊkən/
In pieces. We use it for bones and for things.
Good news – nothing is broken.
/ˈeksəsaɪz/
Physical activity that keeps you healthy.
Walking is the best exercise.
Now read the story
Story · all 20 words
The Waiting Room
On Sunday morning my grandfather said he felt ill. This is important, because in seventy-one years he has never said those words. He is the most healthy man I know: he walks four kilometres every morning before the sun is properly up, and he laughs at people who take medicine for anything.
But that morning he had a headache, a deep cough, and a pain in his chest every time he breathed. My mother put her hand on his forehead and said one word: “Temperature.” She was right. It was a fever of thirty-nine.
My father telephoned the clinic and made an appointment for two o’clock. We sat in the waiting room for forty minutes. A nurse came out twice and said that the doctor was still busy. My grandfather told us three separate times that it was only a small cold and that we should all go home and stop wasting the afternoon.
The doctor was young and fast. She listened to his chest, looked in his throat, and said: “It is not the heart, and nothing is broken. It is an infection in the chest.” She wrote something on a small paper and gave it to my father. “Pharmacy first. One tablet in the morning, one at night, for seven days. And he must rest – no walking, no exercise – until Friday.”
We did not go to the hospital, which was the only sentence my grandfather actually wanted to hear. By Wednesday nothing hurt any more and he was much better. On Friday at six in the morning he was outside again, walking his four kilometres, explaining to my mother that he had never needed the tablets at all.
Do not forget the a. With most small illnesses, English needs a:
I have a headache. She has a cold. He has a temperature. The baby has a fever.
The -ache family is easy once you see it. The ending is always said /eɪk/, like the word cake:
head + ache = headache tooth + ache = toothache back + ache = backache stomach + ache = stomach ache
Pronunciation: medicine is two parts in British English – MED-sin, not me-di-ci-ne. And cough ends in an /f/: say KOF, the same gh as in laugh and enough.
Useful sentences to memorise: I do not feel well. I have a pain here. How long will it take? Get well soon.
How you feel: ill, healthy, better, pain, hurt.
What is wrong: headache, fever, temperature, a cold, cough, broken.
Who helps: doctor, nurse, hospital, pharmacy, appointment.
What you do: take medicine, take a tablet, rest, do exercise.
Practise this short dialogue out loud: — What is wrong? — I have a headache and a temperature. — Take this medicine and rest. — Thank you, doctor.
Now practise with the questions below.
Check your understanding
Answer the questions below. You will see instantly if you are right.
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