Hypochondriac
Tell a doctor what hurts, how much, and since when — out loud, in Spanish.
The pattern is me duele + a singular noun, me duelen + a plural one: me duele la cabeza, me duelen los ojos — the verb agrees with the body part, not with you. Then sharpen it: dolor agudo (sharp) versus dolor constante, hinchado for swollen — locals just as often say lo tengo inflamado. And always attach a duration, because it's the first thing a doctor asks: desde hace tres días. With medical staff, stay in formal usted.
Below: how locals crank up pain by country, the pharmacy and emergency-room words, and a way to rehearse the whole clinic call out loud — no flashcards, no vocabulary lists to cram.
Say this
Regional Spanish
Textbooks teach one word. Locals use several — pick your region's and stay consistent.
Watch out
The part no drill site can do
Olivia
Your vocabulary teacher for this pack
In the Hypochondriac lessons there are no flashcards and nothing to fill in — you say the words where they matter, and Olivia plays the other side. You call a clinic with a fever that started yesterday and describe it: what, where, desde hace tres días. You stand at the pharmacy counter asking for something for your stomach. You sit in urgencias explaining a swollen ankle — tengo el tobillo inflamado — and before you leave, you confirm the dose out loud: ¿cada cuántas horas?
Blank mid-sentence and nothing bad happens — she waits. That's the practice, without unnecessary judgement.
Finish the 6 lessons and Hypochondriac is yours — earned, not given.
First 10 lessons free · 10-minute spoken lessons · your AI coaching team remembers you
Quick answers
It follows the body part. Singular noun → me duele (me duele la cabeza); plural noun → me duelen (me duelen los ojos). The most common slip is using me duele for everything.
Across Latin America: me duele un montón. Each country has its own intensifier — Mexico says me duele gacho, Argentina me duele mal, Colombia me duele full. For unbearable: tengo un dolor que no aguanto.
The textbook form is desde hace tres días — for three days. In conversation locals flip it: hace tres días que estoy así. Either way, never skip the duration; it's the detail doctors need first.
Urgencias is the base word — in Mexico, la sala de urgencias. Argentina says la guardia (me fui a la guardia anoche), and Colombia and Venezuela say emergencias.
You'll learn tengo alergia a, but in everyday speech soy alérgico a is more natural — say it early at any pharmacy or clinic, before anyone hands you la receta.
