Farmacia
Describe your symptoms and ask for the right medicine at a Spanish pharmacy — out loud.
Start with necesito algo para… (I need something for…) and add your symptom: necesito algo para el dolor de cabeza. To say what's wrong, use tener + the symptom (tengo fiebre, tengo tos) or doler for pain (me duele el estómago). And ask the one question every traveler needs: ¿lo venden sin receta? — is it available over the counter?
Below: the words for symptoms, medicine and the pharmacy itself, how they change country to country, and a way to run the whole visit out loud — no flashcards.
The warm-up pack
The words for describing how you feel and getting what you need — across the counter, not off a flashcard.
01 · How you actually say your stomach hurts
Me siento mal del estómago.
My stomach feels bad. (Mexico — said more often than the textbook tengo dolor de estómago.)
Both are correct. This one is what you'll actually hear a friend say.
02 · When the fever hits
Me agarró fiebre.
I've got a fever. (Argentina — casual past tense, voseo culture.)
Agarrar (to grab) shows up a lot in casual Argentine Spanish — the fever 'grabbed' you, not the other way around.
03 · The tremendous headache
Tengo un dolor de cabeza tremendo.
I have a terrible headache. (Caribbean — tremendo as an everyday intensifier.)
Tremendo doesn't mean 'tremendous' the way English does — it just means 'a lot', and it's used constantly.
04 · Finding the pharmacy that's open
¿Hay una farmacia de guardia?
Is there a 24-hour pharmacy? (Farmacia de turno in Argentina.)
The word changes by country, but every Spanish-speaking city has a rotating one open all night.
05 · The question that gets you medicine without a doctor
¿Lo venden sin receta?
Do you sell it over the counter?
This is the one question that saves you a doctor's visit and a wasted afternoon.
06 · The dosage question
¿Cada cuánto me lo tomo?
How often do I take it?
Ask this before you leave the counter — pharmacists expect it and answer fast.
07 · The pain word that doesn't work like English
Me duele la cabeza.
My head hurts.
Doler works backwards from English: the body part is the subject, not you. Say me duelen for more than one thing — me duelen los pies.
08 · Booking it, Argentina's way
Tengo turno con el médico.
I have an appointment with the doctor. (Argentina — turno instead of cita.)
Cita works everywhere else. Turno is the local giveaway that you've spent time in Argentina.
09 · What the doctor tells you happened
Me checó el doctor.
The doctor checked me out. (Mexico — checar, borrowed straight from English 'check'.)
One of the friendliest Spanglish verbs — you'll hear it constantly in Mexican Spanish.
10 · The recovery line
Ya me siento mejor.
I'm feeling better now.
The natural thing to say once whatever you took actually worked.
11 · Catching the flu, voseo-style
Estoy engripado.
I've got the flu. (Argentina — the voseo region's own word for it.)
Elsewhere you'll hear tengo gripa (Mexico) or estoy resfriado (Colombia) — all understood everywhere, regardless of where you learned yours.
FLUENT
Finally, someone to talk to in Spanish.
Ten-minute spoken lessons. A teacher who answers back — and gently fixes what you got wrong.
First 10 lessons freeandbefluent.com/spanish/farmaciaRegional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
| English | Mexico | Argentina | Colombia | Spain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| flu / bad cold | la gripa | estoy engripado/a | estoy con gripa | la gripe |
| medicine (casual word) | el medicamento | el remedio | el remedio | el medicamento |
| ointment / cream | la pomada | la crema | la crema | la crema |
| doctor | el doctor / la doctora | el médico | el médico | el médico |
| appointment | la cita | el turno | la cita médica | la cita |
Watch out
The part no drill site can do
Olivia
Your vocabulary teacher for this pack
There are no flashcards and nothing to memorize in isolation. In the last lesson Olivia plays the pharmacist and you walk in sick: you open with necesito algo para…, describe how you feel (tengo fiebre y me duele la garganta), and understand what she tells you about the pastillas and the jarabe — how many, how often. She asks about allergies, you answer soy alérgico a…, and the whole visit happens out loud, in real time.
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 5 lessons and Farmacia is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
Start with necesito algo para… (I need something for…) and add the symptom: necesito algo para la tos. You can also ask ¿tiene algo para el dolor de cabeza?.
Use tener for conditions (tengo fiebre, tengo gripe) and doler for pain (me duele la cabeza). For a general 'I feel off,' say me siento mal or estoy mareado.
Sin receta — literally 'without a prescription.' The everyday question is ¿lo venden sin receta? (do you sell it over the counter?). A prescription itself is la receta.
Doler works like gustar: me duele for one thing (me duele la cabeza) and me duelen for several (me duelen los ojos). It matches the body part, not you.
Both mean the flu. La gripe is standard; in Mexico and much of Latin America people say la gripa (tengo gripa). Either is understood everywhere.
