Doctor & Pharmacy

Spanish Basic Conversation 2

Chapter 8 · At the Doctor & the Pharmacy

🩺 At the Doctor & the Pharmacy — En el médico y en la farmacia

This chapter gives you the language to say what is wrong, make an appointment, understand a few instructions and buy medicine. The new grammar is doler (me duele la cabeza), indirect object pronouns (me, te, le, nos, os, les) and desde hace for "for how long". It adds sentirse and recetar. This chapter teaches language, not medical advice; for any real health problem, ask a professional. Each dialog has a Hard words note; the respelling is in the tables.

① Making an Appointment (formal) — Una cita

A: Buenos días. Quisiera pedir cita con el médico. Good morning. I'd like to make an appointment with the doctor.

B: ¿Para cuándo? For when?

A: Lo antes posible, por favor. Me encuentro mal. As soon as possible, please. I feel unwell.

B: Tengo una cita mañana a las diez y cuarto. I have an appointment tomorrow at a quarter past ten.

Hard words: pedir cita (to make an appointment), el médico (doctor), lo antes posible (as soon as possible), me encuentro mal (I feel unwell; set phrase for now).

② A Headache (formal) — Me duele la cabeza

A: Buenos días. ¿Qué le pasa? Good morning. What's the matter?

B: Me duele la cabeza y tengo fiebre. I have a headache and I have a temperature.

A: ¿Desde cuándo le duele? Since when has it been hurting?

B: Me duele desde hace dos días. It's been hurting for two days.

Hard words: doler (to hurt; o → ue), la cabeza (head), la fiebre (temperature, fever), desde hace dos días (for two days), ¿Qué le pasa? (What's the matter?).

③ Stomach and Throat (informal) — Me duele el estómago

A: Tienes mala cara. ¿Qué te pasa? You look unwell. What's wrong?

B: Me duele el estómago y me duele la garganta. My stomach hurts and my throat hurts.

A: ¿Por qué no vas al médico? Why don't you go to the doctor?

B: Sí, voy esta tarde. Me siento fatal. Yes, I'm going this afternoon. I feel terrible.

Hard words: tener mala cara (to look unwell), el estómago, la garganta (throat), sentirse (to feel; e → ie), fatal (terrible).

④ In the Consulting Room (formal) — ¿Le duele aquí?

A: ¿Le duele aquí? Does it hurt here?

B: Sí, me duele mucho el brazo. Yes, my arm hurts a lot.

A: Le receto un medicamento y tiene que descansar. I'll prescribe you a medicine and you have to rest.

B: ¿Cuántas veces al día lo tomo? How many times a day do I take it?

Hard words: el brazo (arm), recetar (to prescribe), el medicamento (medicine), tener que + infinitive (to have to), cuántas veces al día (how many times a day), le receto (I prescribe you; set phrase for now).

⑤ At the Pharmacy (formal) — En la farmacia

A: Buenas tardes. ¿Tiene algo para el dolor de cabeza? Good afternoon. Do you have something for a headache?

B: Sí, tengo unas pastillas. ¿Tiene alguna alergia? Yes, I have some tablets. Do you have any allergy?

A: No. ¿Necesito receta? No. Do I need a prescription?

B: Para estas no. Son tres euros cincuenta. Not for these. That's 3 euros 50.

Hard words: el dolor de cabeza (headache), las pastillas (tablets), la receta (prescription), la alergia (allergy), algo para (something for).

⑥ A Late Night (casual) — La farmacia de guardia

A: ¡Qué dolor de muelas! ¿Hay una farmacia abierta? What toothache! Is there a pharmacy open?

B: Mira el cartel: allí dice cuál es la farmacia de guardia. Look at the sign: it says which is the duty pharmacy.

A: Vale. ¿Me acompañas? OK. Will you come with me?

B: Claro, te acompaño. Of course, I'll come with you.

Hard words: el dolor de muelas (toothache), abierto/a (open), el cartel (sign), la farmacia de guardia (duty pharmacy), acompañar (to accompany), dice (it says; set word for now).

🗣️ Key Phrases — Frases clave

English	Formal (usted)	Informal (tú)
What's the matter?	¿Qué le pasa? keh leh PAH-sah	¿Qué te pasa? keh teh PAH-sah
Does it hurt here?	¿Le duele aquí? leh DWEH-leh ah-KEE	¿Te duele aquí? teh DWEH-leh ah-KEE
My head hurts.	Me duele la cabeza. meh DWEH-leh lah kah-BEH-thah
I'd like to make an appointment.	Quisiera pedir cita. kee-SYEH-rah peh-DEER THEE-tah
I have a temperature / a cough.	Tengo fiebre. / Tengo tos. TEHN-goh FYEH-breh / TEHN-goh TOHS
Do you have something for…?	¿Tiene algo para el dolor de cabeza? TYEH-neh AHL-goh PAH-rah ehl doh-LOR deh kah-BEH-thah

🧍 The Body — El cuerpo

Head and trunk	Arms and legs	Other symptoms
la cabeza lah kah-BEH-thah (head) la garganta lah gar-GAHN-tah (throat) el estómago ehl ehs-TOH-mah-goh (stomach) la espalda lah ehs-PAHL-dah (back) la muela lah MWEH-lah (tooth, molar)	el brazo ehl BRAH-thoh (arm) la mano lah MAH-noh (hand) la pierna lah PYEHR-nah (leg) el pie ehl PYEH (foot)	la fiebre lah FYEH-breh (temperature) la tos lah TOHS (cough) el resfriado ehl rehs-FRYAH-doh (cold) el dolor ehl doh-LOR (pain)

🔶 Doler and the Indirect Object Pronouns

Who feels the pain	one part hurts	several parts hurt
me (me)	me duele la cabeza meh DWEH-leh lah kah-BEH-thah	me duelen los pies meh DWEH-lehn lohs PYEHS
te (you, informal)	te duele el brazo teh DWEH-leh ehl BRAH-thoh	te duelen las piernas teh DWEH-lehn lahs PYEHR-nahs
le (him, her, you formal)	le duele la espalda leh DWEH-leh lah ehs-PAHL-dah	le duelen las manos leh DWEH-lehn lahs MAH-nohs
nos (us)	nos duele la garganta nohs DWEH-leh lah gar-GAHN-tah	nos duelen los ojos nohs DWEH-lehn lohs OH-khohs
os (you plural, Spain)	os duele el estómago	os duelen las muelas
les (them, you plural formal)	les duele la cabeza	les duelen los pies

Doler Works Like Gustar Doler ("to hurt") follows the same pattern as gustar (Spanish Basic Conversation 2 2): the thing that hurts is the subject and the person is shown by me, te, le, nos, os, les (the indirect object pronouns). One thing: duele; several things: duelen. Use the article, not "my": Me duele la cabeza, not me duele mi cabeza. The stem changes o → ue (doler → duele). The full pronoun system is in Spanish Grammar 2 9, and verbs like gustar in Spanish Grammar 2 7.

For how long? Desde hace

Spanish	Say it	English
Me duele desde hace dos días.	meh DWEH-leh DEHS-deh AH-theh dohs DEE-ahs	It has hurt for two days.
Tengo tos desde hace una semana.	TEHN-goh TOHS DEHS-deh AH-theh OO-nah seh-MAH-nah	I've had a cough for a week.
¿Desde cuándo le duele?	DEHS-deh KWAHN-doh leh DWEH-leh	Since when has it hurt?

Desde hace + Time: A Present Tense for "Still" To say something has been going on for a period, Spanish uses the present tense with desde hace + time: Vivo aquí desde hace tres años ("I have lived here for three years"). The question is ¿Desde cuándo…? Note that the verb is present, not a past tense, because the situation is still true now.

🔤 Verbs — Doler, sentirse, recetar

Doler ("to hurt") is shown in its two commonest forms, duele and duelen (o → ue). Sentirse ("to feel") is a reflexive verb (Spanish Basic Conversation 2 1) with e → ie in every form except nosotros and vosotros. Recetar ("to prescribe") is a regular -ar verb.

	doler (to hurt)	sentirse (to feel)	recetar (to prescribe)
yo (I)	—	me siento meh SYEHN-toh	receto reh-THEH-toh
tú (you, informal)	—	te sientes teh SYEHN-tehs	recetas reh-THEH-tahs
él, ella, usted; it	duele DWEH-leh	se siente seh SYEHN-teh	receta reh-THEH-tah
nosotros (we)	—	nos sentimos nohs sehn-TEE-mohs	recetamos reh-theh-TAH-mohs
vosotros (Spain)	—	os sentís ohs sehn-TEES	recetáis reh-theh-TAHYS
ellos, ellas, ustedes; they	duelen DWEH-lehn	se sienten seh SYEHN-tehn	recetan reh-THEH-tahn

📖 Vocabulary — Vocabulario

20 key words. Read the Spanish first, then check the respelling (CAPITALS = the stressed syllable).

#	Spanish	Say it	English	Type
1	el médico / la médica	ehl MEH-dee-koh / lah MEH-dee-kah	doctor	noun
2	la cita	lah THEE-tah	appointment	noun
3	el centro de salud	ehl THEHN-troh deh sah-LOOD	health centre	noun
4	la farmacia	lah far-MAH-thyah	pharmacy	noun
5	la receta	lah reh-THEH-tah	prescription	noun
6	el medicamento	ehl meh-dee-kah-MEHN-toh	medicine	noun
7	la pastilla	lah pahs-TEE-yah	tablet	noun
8	el dolor	ehl doh-LOR	pain	noun
9	la fiebre	lah FYEH-breh	fever, temperature	noun
10	la tos	lah TOHS	cough	noun
11	la cabeza	lah kah-BEH-thah	head	noun
12	la garganta	lah gar-GAHN-tah	throat	noun
13	el estómago	ehl ehs-TOH-mah-goh	stomach	noun
14	la espalda	lah ehs-PAHL-dah	back	noun
15	doler	doh-LEHR	to hurt	verb
16	sentirse	sehn-TEER-seh	to feel	verb
17	recetar	reh-theh-TAR	to prescribe	verb
18	enfermo / sano	ehn-FEHR-moh / SAH-noh	ill / healthy	adj
19	desde hace	DEHS-deh AH-theh	for (a period of time)	phrase
20	¿Qué le pasa?	keh leh PAH-sah	What's the matter?	phrase

The Spanish Health System in Outline Spain has a public health system (la sanidad pública) run through the Seguridad Social and the regional health services. Routine care usually starts at your local centro de salud with a family doctor, and you often book with cita previa (an appointment in advance); emergencies go to the hospital's urgencias. Access and the health card (la tarjeta sanitaria) depend on your residence status and the region, so a visitor or a new resident should check the details locally. This is only an outline.

Farmacia de Guardia Pharmacies (farmacias) have regular opening hours, and a farmacia de guardia is a duty pharmacy that stays open outside them. A pharmacy that is closed often displays a notice showing which one is on duty nearby. Pharmacists can often advise on small problems, but for anything serious see a doctor. A receta is the prescription some medicines require.

Latin America Note Me duele la cabeza, tengo fiebre and ¿Qué le pasa? work everywhere. Words differ: words for "tablet" and "doctor" vary: doctor/a is widely used for a doctor, and médico/a is understood everywhere. Health systems, health cards and pharmacy rules are different in each country, so these notes apply to Spain only. Use ustedes instead of vosotros (¿Les duele aquí?).

Grammar Pointer Doler and the verbs that work like gustar are explained in Spanish Grammar 2 7, the indirect object pronouns (me, te, le, nos, os, les) in Spanish Grammar 2 9, reflexive verbs such as sentirse in Spanish Grammar 2 6, and stem-changing verbs in Spanish Grammar 2 5. Use them as a reference after this chapter.

✍️ Try It Yourself — Ejercicios

Say each answer out loud first, then click to check.

1. Say: "My head hurts and I have a temperature."

Show answer

Me duele la cabeza y tengo fiebre.

2. Choose duele or duelen: "Me ___ el estómago." · "Me ___ los pies." · "Te ___ la espalda." · "Le ___ las manos."

Show answer

duele · duelen · duele · duelen. (One thing: duele; several: duelen.)

3. Say: "It has hurt for three days." and ask a patient, formally, "Since when does it hurt?"

Show answer

Me duele desde hace tres días. · ¿Desde cuándo le duele?

4. Phone the health centre: ask for an appointment as soon as possible.

Show answer

Buenos días. Quisiera pedir cita con el médico lo antes posible, por favor.

5. In a pharmacy, ask for something for a headache, then ask whether you need a prescription.

Show answer

¿Tiene algo para el dolor de cabeza? ¿Necesito receta?

6. Complete with the right pronoun: "A mí ___ duele la espalda." · "A ti ___ duelen los pies." · "A ella ___ duele la cabeza." · "A nosotros ___ duele la garganta."

Show answer

me · te · le · nos.

Coming Up in Chapter 9 Talking about the past: ayer, la semana pasada, el año pasado, the preterite (fui, comí, vi), and talking about a weekend.