Body & Health
Body & Health — 20 high-frequency words, with pronunciation, collocations, easy-to-confuse words and four interactive exercises.
📌 In this lesson
🎯 Lesson goal
The words you need to tell a doctor what is wrong 🩺, very useful when you travel. The key point is how to talk about symptoms: use have (I have a headache) or -ache after a part of the body. You also learn advice with should. 🚀
🗂️ Word Bank
Tap 🔊 to hear the British pronunciation. The IPA transcription is under each word.
📖 Words in context
At the doctor’s, in England · tap a highlighted word to hear it.
On Monday I woke up with a headache and a sore throat. By the evening I also had a bad cough and a high temperature, so my host family said I had caught a cold.
On Tuesday I still felt dizzy when I stood up, so we made an appointment at the doctor's surgery. The doctor was kind: he said it was nothing serious, wrote me a prescription and told me to rest.
We went to the chemist's and bought a painkiller. "Drink water, sleep well and look after yourself," he said. It took four days to recover. I was exhausted, but on Saturday I felt fit again — just in time for the football match.
🔗 Collocations & chunks
Words travel in pairs, not alone: learn the whole chunk.
| Chunk / collocation | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| catch a cold | to get an illness with a runny nose | I always catch a cold in October. |
| feel under the weather | to feel a bit ill | I'm feeling a bit under the weather. |
| get over an illness | to get better after being ill | It took ages to get over the flu. |
| keep fit | to stay healthy and strong | She swims to keep fit. |
| be off sick | to stay away from work because you are ill | He's been off sick all week. |
| get well soon | a kind wish for someone who is ill | Get well soon! |
⚠️ Easy-to-confuse words
| English word | Real meaning ✅ | Easy to mix up with ❌ |
|---|---|---|
| sensible | assennato | Not the same as “sensitive” (easily hurt or upset) |
| morbid | strange and too interested in death | It has nothing to do with “soft” |
| suffer from | to have an illness regularly | Use it for illnesses; for general feelings say “be in pain” or “struggle” |
| terrific | wonderful, great | Not “terrifying” (very scary) |
🎚️ Register: when to use them
| Expression | Register | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| I'm knackered. | very informal (UK) | between friends, meaning “I am worn out”. Never with a doctor |
| I don't feel very well. | neutral | always fine, even at school or work |
| I'm feeling under the weather. | informal but polite | to say you are unwell without details |
| I've been experiencing chest pain. | formal | when you describe symptoms to a doctor |
🚫 Common mistakes to avoid
| Mistake ❌ | Correct ✅ |
|---|---|
| I have headache. | I have a headache. |
| I am cold. | I have a cold. (when you are ill) |
| I have 38 of fever. | I have a temperature of 38. |
| The doctor gave me a recipe. | The doctor gave me a prescription. |
🎮 Vocabulary gym
Four ways to practise the same 20 words. Your progress is saved on this device.
Tap the card to flip it.
Tap an English word, then its meaning. Eight pairs per round.
Complete the ten sentences with the right word. The clue under each sentence will help you.
- I've got a terrible .💡 My head hurts very badly.
- She has a and a cough.💡 She feels pain when she swallows, and she also coughs.
- That sounds bad.💡 The noise from that throat problem sounds bad.
- I've caught .💡 I caught an illness with a runny nose.
- He's got a high .💡 Her body is very hot because she is ill.
- I feel on buses.💡 Buses make me feel like vomiting.
- I stood up and felt .💡 I stood up and everything seemed to spin.
- My knee is very .💡 My knee hurts a lot.
- He has a knee .💡 He damaged his knee in sport.
- I've got a big on my arm.💡 There is a big dark mark on my arm after a hit.