Go to the ER in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to go to the ER in Spanish in this article and the lessons above! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• describe symptoms

• ask questions about one’s symptoms

• use common health-related vocabulary

Vocabulary

Let's start off with the vocab words in these lessons!

Adjectives

Spanish	English
irritado	irritated
sensible	sensitive

examples
¿Tiene la piel sensible? Is your skin sensitive?
Tengo los ojos irritados. My eyes are irritated.

Adverb

Spanish	English
inmediatamente	immediately

examples
¿Debo ir a urgencias inmediatamente? Should I go to the ER immediately?

Nouns

Spanish	English
la curita	Band-Aid
el grano	pimple
el hielo	ice
el jarabe	syrup
el medicamento	medication, medicine
el moretón	bruise
el músculo	muscle
la pantorrilla	calf
la piel	skin
la pomada	ointment
la reacción	reaction
el sarpullido	rash
la uña	nail
las urgencias	ER

The word curita can be either masculine or feminine, depending on the country where the word is being used.

examples
Estoy teniendo una reacción alérgica. I'm having an allergic reaction.
Tengo un sarpullido en la piel. I have rash on my skin.
Me estoy aplicando una pomada ahora. I'm applying an ointment now.

Article Alert!

In Spanish, we use the definite article when we’re talking about body parts.

examples
Tengo las uñas moradas. My nails are purple.
Me arden los ojos. My eyes are burning.
¿Tiene la piel sensible? Is your skin sensitive?

Verbs

In this skill, you learn the following verbs!

Aplicarse

Aplicarseis a pronominal verb that means to apply.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	me aplico	I apply
tú	te aplicas	you apply	informal singular you
vos	te aplicás	you apply	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	se aplica	he, she applies
usted	se aplica	you apply	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	nos aplicamos	we apply
vosotros, vosotras	os aplicáis	you apply	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	se aplican	they apply
ustedes	se aplican	you apply	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Arder

Arderis a regular -er verb that means to burn.

Conjugation	Translation	Notes
me arde	it burns me
te arde	it burns you	informal singular you
te arde	it burns you	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
le arde	it burns him/her
le arde	it burns you	formal singular you
nos arde	it burns us
os arde	it burns you	informal plural you (in Spain)
les arde	it burns them
les arde	it burns you	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Picar

Picaris a regular -ar verb that means to sting.

Conjugation	Translation	Notes
me pica	it stings me
te pica	it stings you	informal singular you
te pica	it stings you	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
le pica	it stings him/her
le pica	it stings you	formal singular you
nos pica	it stings us
os pica	it stings you	informal plural you (in Spain)
les pica	it stings them
les pica	it stings you	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

The verbs arder and picar are similar to doler(to hurt).

How Verbs Like Doler Works

With doler and verbs like it, such as picar and doler, the subject of the sentence is the thing that hurts/burns, while the person who is experiencing the pain/burning is expressed via an indirect object.

Spanish	Literal English Translation	Everyday English Translation
Me duele el oído.	My ear is hurting me.	My ear hurts.

• In the above Spanish sentence, el oído (ear) is the subject, so doler is conjugated in the third-person singular to match the singular word oído.

• The indirect object me is used to indicate who is experiencing the pain.

• Also, when the subject of these verbs is a plural noun, they are conjugated in the third person plural and preceded by the appropriate pronoun. For example:

examples
Me duele el pie. My foot hurts.
Me duelen los pies. My feet hurt.

Rascarse

Rascarseis a pronominal verb that means to scratch.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	me rasco	I scratch
tú	te rascas	you scratch	informal singular you
vos	te rascás	you scratch	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	se rasca	he, she scratches
usted	se rasca	you scratch	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	nos rascamos	we scratch
vosotros, vosotras	os rascáis	you scratch	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	se rascan	they scratch
ustedes	se rascan	you scratch	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Sangrar

Sangraris a regular -ar verb that means to bleed.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	sangro	I bleed
tú	sangras	you bleed	informal singular you
vos	sangrás	you bleed	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	sangra	he, she bleeds
usted	sangra	you bleed	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	sangramos	we bleed
vosotros, vosotras	sangráis	you bleed	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	sangran	they bleed
ustedes	sangran	you bleed	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Temblar

Temblar(to shiver) is a stem-changing verb. That means that its "stem," te, changes to tie in all forms except for the vos, nosotros/nosotras, and vosotros/vosotras forms.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	tiemblo	I shiver
tú	tiemblas	you shiver	informal singular you
vos	temblás	you shiver	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	tiembla	he, she shivers
usted	tiembla	you shiver	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	temblamos	we shiver
vosotros, vosotras	tembláis	you shiver	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	tiemblan	they shiver
ustedes	tiemblan	you shiver	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Toser

Toseris a regular -er verb that means to cough.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	toso	I cough
tú	toses	you cough	informal singular you
vos	tosés	you cough	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	tose	he, she coughs
usted	tose	you cough	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	tosemos	we cough
vosotros, vosotras	toséis	you cough	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	tosen	they cough
ustedes	tosen	you cough	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Vomitar

Vomitaris a regular -ar verb that means to vomit.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	vomito	I vomit
tú	vomitas	you vomit	informal singular you
vos	vomitás	you vomit	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	vomita	he, she vomits
usted	vomita	you vomit	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	vomitamos	we vomit
vosotros, vosotras	vomitáis	you vomit	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	vomitan	they vomit
ustedes	vomitan	you vomit	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Verb Phrases

In this skill, you learn the following verb phrases!

Ir Al Baño

Ir al bañois an irregular verb phrase that means to go to the bathroom.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	voy al baño	I go to the bathroom
tú	vas al baño	you go to the bathroom	informal singular you
vos	vas al baño	you go to the bathroom	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	va al baño	he, she goes to the bathroom
usted	va al baño	you go to the bathroom	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	vamos al baño	we go to the bathroom
vosotros, vosotras	vais al baño	you go to the bathroom	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	van al baño	they go to the bathroom
ustedes	van al baño	you go to the bathroom	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Verbs in the Present Progressive

In this skill, you learn the following verbs in the present progressive (present continuous)!

The structure for the present progressive in Spanish is:

estar + present participle

Infinitive	English	Present Participle
aplicar	to apply	aplicando
arder	to burn	ardiendo
doler	to hurt	doliendo
ir	to go	yendo
molestar	to bother	molestando
picar	to sting	picando
poner	to put on, to get	poniendo
rascar	to scratch	rascando
salir	to get	saliendo
sangrar	to bleed	sangrando
sentir	to feel	sintiendo
temblar	to shiver	temblando
tener	to have	teniendo
tomar	to take	tomando
vomitar	to vomit	vomitando

When using a direct, indirect, or reflexive pronoun with a present participle in the present progressive tense, the pronoun can either be attached to the end of the present participle or go before the conjugated verb. The pronoun never goes in between the conjugated verb and the present participle.

For example:

I am scratching myself.

Estoy rascándome.

Me estoy rascando.

Estoy me rascando.

Learn more about the present progressive (present continuous) in this article.

Phrase

Here is one of the phrases used in these lessons!

Spanish	English
Estoy teniendo una emergencia.	I'm having an emergency.

Quiz Yourself!

Want more practice with the vocabulary you learned in these lessons? Click here!

Spanish Conversation

Fantastic! Let's put the grammar and vocab from above to the test in the following example of a conversation in Spanish.

Dra. Gómez:

Buenos días, Emilio. ¿Qué le pasa?

Good morning, Emilio. What’s the matter?

Emilio:

Estoy teniendo una emergencia, Dra. Gómez. Estoy temblando, y me están picando los ojos. También me está ardiendo la piel.

I’m having an emergency, Dr. Gómez. I’m shivering, and my eyes are stinging me. Also, my skin is burning.

Dra. Gómez:

¿Tiene la piel sensible, Emilio?

Do you have sensitive skin, Emilio?

Emilio:

No. Creo que estoy teniendo una reacción alérgica. Tengo un sarpullido en la piel.

No. I think I’m having an allergic reaction. I have a rash on my skin.

Dra. Gómez:

Tiene que ir a urgencias, Emilio. Necesita medicamentos.

You need to go to the ER, Emilio. You need medicine.

Emilio:

Gracias, doctora. ¿Debo ir a urgencias inmediatamente?

Thank you, doctor. Should I go to the ER immediately?

Want to learn more about how to go to the ER in Spanish? Check out the following articles!

• Take Your Medicine in Spanish

• Basic Spanish for Medical Professionals

• Describe Your Symptoms in Spanish