A headache is a pain in your head, and a stomachache is a pain in your stomach. When your temperature is high, you have a fever.
Aches and pains
headache /ˈhɛd.eɪk/ — a bad headache
stomachache /ˈstʌm.ək.eɪk/ — a stomachache
fever /ˈfiː.vɚ/ — a high fever
Try it: Choose the word: (headache / fever / cough) Answer: headache — This is a headache.
Cold and flu signs
A cough is when air comes out of your throat with a sound. A runny nose is when liquid comes from your nose. Dizzy means the room feels like it is spinning.
cough /kɔːf/ — a bad cough
runny nose /ˈrʌn.i ˌnoʊz/ — a runny nose
dizzy /ˈdɪz.i/ — feel dizzy
Try it: Choose the word: (dizzy / runny nose / cough) Answer: dizzy — dizzy describes this.
Getting better
You take medicine to feel better and put a bandage on a cut. When you are ill, you need to rest, and the doctor may give you a prescription.
medicine /ˈmɛd.ɪ.sɪn/ — take medicine
bandage /ˈbæn.dɪdʒ/ — a clean bandage
rest /rɛst/ — get some rest
prescription /prɪˈskrɪp.ʃən/ — a prescription
Try it: Choose the word: (bandage / medicine / prescription) Answer: bandage — This is a bandage.
At the pharmacy
You already know medicine as the general word. Two kinds you can ask for: tablets are the small hard round ones you swallow, and syrup is the thick sweet liquid you take with a spoon. One more symptom: a sore throat means it hurts when you swallow or talk.
sore throat — I have a sore throat and it hurts to talk.
tablets — Take two tablets after breakfast.
syrup — This syrup helps with a cough.
Try it: It hurts Lars when he swallows or talks. He has a ___. (sore throat / headache / fever) Answer: sore throat — A sore throat hurts when you swallow or talk, which is exactly what Lars describes. A headache hurts in your head and a fever makes you hot, so neither one is about swallowing.
Try it: The pharmacist gives Mei a thick sweet liquid to take with a spoon. That is ___. (syrup / tablets / a bandage) Answer: syrup — Syrup is the thick sweet liquid you take with a spoon. Tablets are small and hard and you swallow them whole, and a bandage goes on the outside of a cut.