Hospital, Symptom, and Medicine Intake Expressions

Body Part and Symptom Expressions

The basic expressions for asking about pain at a hospital are 「어디가 불편하세요?」(Where do you feel uncomfortable?) and 「어디가 아프세요?」(Where does it hurt?). An answer that names both the painful body part and the symptom fits a question about where it hurts. Attach '이/가 아프다' (to hurt) to the body part and add the symptom.

The main expressions used to describe pain and symptoms are as follows.

• 신체 부위 + 이/가 아프다 — This means that there is pain in that body part. Example) 허리가 아프다. The subject is the body part, and the predicate expresses the pain.
• 열이 나다 (to have a fever) — This describes a state in which body temperature has risen above normal. Example) 밤부터 열이 나서 잠을 설쳤다.
• 기침이 나다 (to have a cough) — This describes the symptom of coughing. Since a cough is a symptom, not a body part, you must distinguish between the body part and the symptom when describing where it hurts.

Body part words that sound similar change meaning with a single different consonant, so you must listen carefully to distinguish their sounds.

• 발 / 팔 — 발 means the foot, the lower end of the leg, and 팔 means the arm, from the shoulder to the wrist. They are distinguished by the initial sound, the unaspirated 'ㅂ' versus the aspirated 'ㅍ'.
• 이 / 비 — 이 means a tooth, and 비 means rain falling from the sky. They are distinguished by the initial sounds 'ㅇ' and 'ㅂ'. Tooth pain is expressed as '이가 아프다' (my tooth hurts).
• 다치다 / 닦다 — 다치다 means to be injured, to get a wound on the body, and 닦다 means to wipe away dirt by rubbing. Their conjugated forms are similar, so you must distinguish them by meaning.
• 아프다 / 바쁘다 / 빠르다 — The conjugated forms 아파요, 바빠요, and 빨라요 differ in their initial sounds 'ㅇ', 'ㅂ', and 'ㅃ'. The meaning changes completely depending on the initial sound you hear, so you must distinguish them.

The question 「언제부터」(since when) asks when the symptom began. Answer this question by attaching '부터' (from) to a time expression such as '어제부터' (since yesterday) or '이틀 전부터' (since two days ago). The same expression is used when asking about the condition of livestock as well as people.