Say what hurts
I can say what hurts, understand a simple piece of advice and name parts of the body.
Declared core time. Two of the core blocks carry no figure at all, so the real lesson is longer than this sum.
Grammar
4 minYou can talk about a health problem in three ways, and you already know all three:
| I've got a headache. | a pain in my head (have got, lesson 5) |
| My back hurts. | a pain in my back (the simple present, lesson 9) |
| I am ill. | I am not well (be, lesson 1) |
Words with -ache name a pain in one place: headache, toothache, stomach ache, backache. headache meaning "it hurts now" has a: I've got a headache. With the others, British people usually use no article: I've got toothache, I've got backache.
What people ask and what they advise:
| What's the matter? / What's wrong? | a question: what is the problem? |
| I don't feel well. | I feel bad; something is wrong with my health |
| You should rest. / You should see a doctor. | advice: rest / go to a doctor |
You should… is a fixed phrase — learn it as a whole. The verb should itself and other ways to give advice are explained at A2; here it is enough to recognise the phrase and answer it.
Common learner errors
written for your languageheadache without a
✗ I've got headache
✓ I've got a headache
Languages without articles (Chinese, Japanese, Polish, Turkish) give no reason to put a here, and German says it in the plural (Kopfschmerzen). In English the headache you have now is one: a headache.
the instead of my with a part of the body
✗ The head hurts
✓ My head hurts
Spanish (Me duele la cabeza) and German (Mir tut der Kopf weh) say "the head", and a separate word shows whose head it is. In English my, his or her does the job: His leg hurts.
"To me hurts the back" word for word
✗ Me hurts the back
✗ At me hurts the back
✓ My back hurts
Spanish Me duele la espalda and Russian U menya bolit spina put the person first and the part of the body after the verb. In English the thing that hurts is the subject, and it comes before the verb (lesson 7).
"I feel me" and "I feel not"
✗ I feel me not well
✗ I feel not well
✓ I don't feel well
In Spanish (me siento) and German (ich fühle mich) "feel" takes a pronoun; English feel does not. The negative is made with don't (lesson 8).
Pronunciation
3 minache is said /eɪk/ — the letters ch give /k/ here (usually they give /tʃ/, as in children), as in stomach /ˈstʌmək/ and school /skuːl/.
headache /ˈhedeɪk/ — two syllables, the stress on the first. Not "head-a-tche": ch here is not the /tʃ/ of children, and the e at the end is not pronounced.
Text
3 minWhat's the matter?
I don't feel well. I've got a headache and my back hurts.
Are you ill?
Maybe. I was in the park yesterday and it was very cold.
You should rest. Don't go to work tomorrow.
Exercises
8–10 min1. Gap fill.
- a headache
- My back
- I ill
Show the answers
2. Matching.
- head
- back
- tooth
- stomach
- leg
Show the answers
3. Error correction.
- I've got headache.
- The head hurts.
- At me hurts the back.
Show the answers
4. Word order.
[ the matter / what's / ? ] · [ should / you / rest ]
Show the answers
Summary
Covered
- three ways to say what hurts
- words with -ache
- parts of the body
- the phrases What's the matter? and You should…
Next — lesson 34: reading rules.
End of the core
The lesson counts as done once the exercises are done. Everything after this is optional.
optional
Vocabulary for your deck
14 words- head /hed/ the top part of your body, with your eyes and mouth
- back /bæk/ the part of your body behind you, from the neck down
- tooth /tuːθ/ one of the hard white things in your mouth that you bite with
- stomach /ˈstʌmək/ the part of your body where food goes; the front of your body below the chest
- leg /leɡ/ one of the two long parts of your body that you walk on
- arm /ɑːm/ one of the two long parts of your body between the shoulder and the hand
- eye /aɪ/ the part of your face that you see with
- hurt /hɜːt/ to give pain (My back hurts.)
- ill /ɪl/ not well; having an illness
- headache /ˈhedeɪk/ a pain in your head
- matter /ˈmætə/ the problem (What's the matter?)
- wrong /rɒŋ/ not right; with a problem (What's wrong?)
- feel /fiːl/ to have a feeling in your body or mind (I don't feel well.)
- medicine /ˈmedsn/ something you take to get better when you are ill
Writing
A dialogue of four lines: you say what is wrong with your health, and someone gives you advice.
Example
— What's the matter? — I don't feel well. I've got a headache. — You should rest. — Thank you.
Checklist
Practise this lesson in the other sections
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