Health and the doctor

Saying you're sick, describing where it hurts, and asking for what you need at the pharmacy or the clinic.

Healthcare in major Arab cities is generally accessible, and most doctors and pharmacists in private practice speak some English. In villages, smaller cities, and many state hospitals, less so. The phrases on this page cover what you most need: announcing that you are unwell, naming the symptom, and asking the practical questions about a prescription or a fee. We have skewed the dialect choice toward the spoken Levantine and Egyptian forms a learner is most likely to need; MSA equivalents are given where they are what you would write in a form.

One thing worth flagging: medication that requires a prescription in Europe or North America is sometimes available over the counter in Arab pharmacies, and pharmacists are accustomed to giving informal advice. This is convenient but worth being cautious with — antibiotics in particular should not be taken on a hunch.

Saying you're unwell

Body parts (a small set)

At the doctor

At the pharmacy

Asking for help, urgency

Common mistakes

• Translating "I am sick" with the present-progressive form. baʾuun mariiD ("I am being sick") is not Arabic. The simple anaa mariiD / mariiDa is the form.
• Saying ʿindii alam when you mean an ache. alam is "pain" but reads as quite formal. Spoken Arabic uses wajaʿ ("ache") for ordinary pain — wajaʿ raas, wajaʿ baTn.
• Forgetting the gender on mariiD / mariiDa. A woman saying anaa mariiD is grammatically wrong. Same applies to Haamil (pregnant), which is one of the rare adjectives where the masculine form is used for the feminine concept — but the surrounding adjectives still need the feminine.
• Self-prescribing antibiotics from a friendly pharmacist. Not strictly a language mistake. But "I had this last year, can I have it again" is not a good basis for antibiotic use, however accommodating the pharmacy.