Talking about health in Russian

It’s time to dedicate some time to your vocabulary. In today’s lesson we will learn some useful Russian phrases describing health problems, althought we hope you’ll never have to use them.

To say that you have a pain somewhere you can start your phrase with these words:

У меня́ боли́т… – I have a pain in …

Боли́т comes from the infinitive боле́ть which means ‘to hurt, to ache’. To point what exactly your problem is, use the following words:

живо́т – stomach
голова́ – head
го́рло – throat
нога́ – leg
рука́ – hand
спина́ – back
плечо́ – shoulder
зуб – tooth

For example:

У меня́ боли́т голова́.
I have a headache.

У меня́ боли́т живо́т.
I have a stomach pain. / My stomach hurts.

Here are some more phrases you might need:

Мне пло́хо.
I’m not well.

Я себя́ пло́хо чу́вствую.
I’m not feeling well. (Lit. – I feel myself badly.)

Мне нехорошо́.
I’m not feeling well.

Меня́ тошни́т.
I feel nausea. / I feel sick.

У меня́ кру́жится голова́.
I’m dizzy.

У меня́ изжо́га.
I have a heartburn.

У меня́ перши́т в го́рле.
I have a sore throat.

У меня́ заложи́ло нос.
I got a stuffy nose.

У меня́ на́сморк.
I have a running nose.

Я простуди́лась.
I caught a cold. (when referring to a woman)

Я простуди́лся.
I caught a cold. (when referring to a man)

У меня́ просту́да.
I caught a cold.

У меня́ грипп.
I have a flu.

Я боле́ю.
I’m ill.

To ask someone how he or she feels, you can use the following phrases:

Как вы себя́ чу́вствуете?
How do you feel? (plural or formal)

Как ты себя чу́вствуешь?
How do you feel? (informal)

Вам пло́хо?
Are you not feeling well? (Lit. – Is it bad for you?)

Вы хорошо́ себя́ чу́вствуете?
Do you feel well? Are you OK?

Practice all the phrase of today’s lesson with the audio track.

The offline version of this lesson is available here

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