Take Your Medicine in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to take your medicine in Spanish! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• request medical advice

• express that you need medicine

• understand basic instructions related to health

Vocabulary

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

Nouns

Spanish	English
el alimento	food
los antibióticos	antibiotics
la aspirina	aspirin
la cirugía	surgery
la enfermedad	illness
el enfermero	nurse
la enfermera	nurse
la medicina	medicine
el/la paciente	patient
la pastilla	pill
la receta	prescription
la sala de urgencias	emergency room
el seguro médico	health insurance
la vida	life

examples
El enfermero tiene su receta. The nurse has your prescription.
Tengo una enfermedad. I have an illness.
Vamos a la sala de urgencias. We're going to the emergency room.

Adjective

Spanish	English
saludable	healthy

examples
Debe tomar alimentos saludables. She needs to eat healthy foods.

Adverb

Spanish	English
entonces	then

examples
Entonces, necesita antibióticos. Then, you need antibiotics.

Pronoun

Spanish	English
algo	something

examples
Necesito algo para el dolor. I need something for the pain.

Verbs

In this skill, you learn the following verbs!

Comenzar A

Comenzar a(to start) is a stem-changing verb. That means that its "stem," comen, changes to comien in all forms except for the vos, nosotros/nosotras, and vosotros/vosotras forms.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	comienzo	I start
tú	comienzas	you start	informal singular you
vos	comenzás	you start	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	comienza	he, she starts
usted	comienza	you start	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	comenzamos	we start
vosotros, vosotras	comenzáis	you start	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	comienzan	they start
ustedes	comienzan	you start	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Note that comenzar a is followed by an infinitive verb.

examples
Comienzas a tomar aspirina mañana. You start taking aspirin tomorrow.

Esperar

Esperaris a regular -ar verb that means to wait.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	espero	I wait
tú	esperas	you wait	informal singular you
vos	esperás	you wait	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	espera	he, she waits
usted	espera	you wait	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	esperamos	we wait
vosotros, vosotras	esperáis	you wait	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	esperan	they wait
ustedes	esperan	you wait	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Phrases

Here are some of the phrases used in these lessons!

Spanish	English
¿Tiene algo para la fiebre?	Do you have anything for a/the fever?
por ejemplo	for example

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:

Buenas tardes. ¿Es el paciente? ¿Luciano Sánchez Peña?

Good afternoon. Are you the patient? Luciano Sanchez Peña?

Luciano:

Sí. Tengo una enfermedad. Necesito algo para el dolor.

Yes. I have an illness. I need something for the pain.

Dra. Gómez:

Sí. Entiendo. Necesita aspirina.

Yes. I understand. You need aspirin.

Luciano:

¿Necesito cirugía?

Do I need surgery?

Dra. Gómez:

¡No! Debe tomar alimentos saludables. Por ejemplo, frutas y verduras. El enfermero tiene su receta.

No! You need to eat healthy foods. For example, fruits and vegetables. The nurse has your prescription.

Luciano:

Gracias, Dra. Gómez. Adiós.

Thank you, Dr. Gomez. Goodbye.

Want to learn more about how to take your medicine in Spanish? Check out the following articles!

• Body Parts in Spanish

• Spanish Flu

• At the Doctor