French › Level three lessons › Health · La santé

V: Illness

Vocabulary (audio ) Illness · La maladie
To ache
avoir mal au/à la/à l'/aux...	to have a ...ache, to hurt	avoir mal au ventre	to have a bellyache
avoir mal à la tête	to have a headache	avoir mal partout	to ache all over
avoir mal à l'oreille	to have an earache	avoir des maux de cœur	to feel sick, nauseaus
avoir mal aux dents	to have a toothache	Actions
Sickness and Pain		éternuer	to sneeze
être malade	to be sick	s'évanouir	to faint
avoir la grippe	to have the flu	saigner	to bleed
avoir de la fièvre	to have a fever	tousser	to cough
être enrhumé	to have a cold	vomir	to throw up

G: Simple Future of Irregular Verbs

The simple future of irregular verbs, like the passé composé of many irregular verbs, must be memorized. What makes this somewhat easy is that verbs with similar endings normally have similar future stems.

For example, the future stem of the verb venir is viendr-. Verbs like venir (devenir, revenir) have a very similar stem (deviendr-, reviendr-).

G: Issuing Commands in French - l'impératif

The nous form commands are used to say "Let's...".
The subject is not used when giving a command.

Formation

Take away the ending and add on the following shown in the table.

Grammar The Imperative · L'impératif
	-er Verbs		-ir Verbs		-re Verbs
Subject	Ending	Verb	Ending	Verb	Ending	Verb
Tu	-e	Parle!	-is	Finis!	-s	Vends!
Nous	-ons	Parlons!	-issons	Finissons!	-ons	Vendons!
Vous	-ez	Parlez!	-issez	Finissez!	-ez	Vendez!

Affirmative

Negative

The negative imperative is formed by placing the imperative between "ne" and "pas/jamais/rien/etcetera."

Ne parle pas! (Don't speak!)

Ne regarde jamais le soleil! (Never look at the sun!)

G: Adverbs

French adverbs, like their English counterparts, are used to modify adjectives, other adverbs, and verbs or clauses. They do not display any inflection; that is, their form does not change to reflect their precise role, nor any characteristics of what they modify.

Formation

In French, as in English, most adverbs are derived from adjectives. In most cases, this is done by adding the suffix -ment ("-ly") to the adjective's feminine singular form. For example, the feminine singular form of lent ("slow") is lente, so the corresponding adverb is lentement ("slowly"); similarly, heureux → heureusement ("happy" → "happily").

As in English, however, the adjective stem is sometimes modified to accommodate the suffix: Audio : Native French Speaker

If the adjective ends in an i, then -ment is added to the masculine singular (default) form, rather than to the feminine singular form:
- vrai → vraiment ("real" → "really")
- poli → poliment ("polite" → "politely")
If the adjective ends in -ant or -ent, then the corresponding adverb ends in -amment or -emment, respectively:
- constant → constamment ("constant" → "constantly")
- récent → récemment ("recent" → "recently")
Some adjectives make other changes:
- précis → précisément ("precise" → "precisely")
- gentil → gentiment ("nice" → "nicely")

Some adverbs are derived from adjectives in completely irregular fashions, not even using the suffix -ment:

bon → bien ("good" → "well")
mauvais → mal ("bad" → "badly")
meilleur → mieux ("better"-adjective → "better"-adverb)
pire → pis ("worse"-adjective → "worse"-adverb)

And, as in English, many common adverbs are not derived from adjectives at all:

ainsi ("thus" or "thusly")

Placement

The placement of French adverbs is almost the same as the placement of English adverbs. Audio : Native French Speaker
An adverb that modifies an adjective or adverb comes before that adjective or adverb:

complètement vrai ("completely true")
pas possible ("not possible")
tellement discrètement ("so discreetly")

An adverb that modifies an Infinitive (verbal noun) generally comes after the infinitive:

marcher lentement ("to walk slowly")

But negative adverbs, such as pas ("not"), plus ("not any more"), and jamais come before the infinitive:

ne pas marcher ("not to walk")

An adverb that modifies a main verb or clause comes either after the verb, or before the clause:

Lentement il commença à marcher or Il commença lentement à marcher ("Slowly, he began to walk" or "He began slowly to walk").

Note that, unlike in English, this is true even of negative adverbs:

Jamais je n'ai fait cela or Je n'ai jamais fait cela ("Never have I done that" or "I've never done that")

V: Visiting the Doctor

Audio : Native French Speaker
Le patient :

Je suis malade. (I am ill).
J'ai mal à la tête. (I have a headache).
J'ai de la fièvre. (I am fevrish)
J'ai mal au ventre.
Je vomis. (I vomit)
Je tousse. (I cough)

Le docteur

Comment allez-vous ?
Prenez de l'aspirine.
Je vais vous prescrire un médicament.
Prenez une cuillère de sirop matin, midi et soir
Il faut passer un "scanner"
Il faut passer des radios.
Il faut vous opérer.

V: Visiting the Dentist

Audio : Native French Speaker

J'ai mal aux dents.
Vous avez une carie.
Je dois procéder à une extraction. (Il va enlever la dent)
J'ai un appareil dentaire.
Je vais utiliser la roulette.
Ahhhhhhhhhh !

V: Healthcare

V: Emergencies

Audio : Native French Speaker

Je vais à l'hôpital.
C'est grave !
Je vais aux urgences.
J'ai eu un accident de voiture.
SAMU=Service Ambulancier Médical d'Urgence
En cas d'accident grave, il faut téléphoner au SAMU (15) ou aux pompiers (18) ou au 112.

V: Medicine


French	English
le comprimé	tablet/pill

V: Body parts

Here is the vocabulary to speak about body parts :
Audio : Native French Speaker
Audio : Native French Speaker

French	English
La tête (lah teht)	Head
Le corps (luh cohr)	Body
Le bras (luh brah)	Arm
La jambe (lah zhah⁽ⁿ⁾b)	Leg
La poitrine (lah pwah-treen)	Chest
Le ventre	Belly
L'épaule (f)	Shoulder
Le coude	Elbow
Le poignet	Wrist
La main	Hand
Le doigt	Finger
Le genou	Knee
Le pied	Foot
L'orteil (m)	Toe
L'œil (m) (pl. les yeux)	Eye
La bouche	Mouth
La dent	Tooth
Le nez	Nose
L'oreille (f)	Ear
Le cou	Neck
La langue	Tongue
Les cheveux	Hair
L'ongle (m)	Nail
Le poumon	Lung
L'estomac (m)	Stomach
Le cœur	Heart
Le foie	Liver
L'intestin (m)	Intestine
L'os (m)	Bone
Le crâne	Skull
Le muscle	Muscle
Le cerveau	Brain
La rate	Spleen
L'utérus (m)	Womb
Le nombril	Navel, belly button

V: Body position

And here is the vocabulary for body positions :

French	English
Debout	Standing
Assis	Sitting
Couché	Lying down
À genoux	Kneeling
Accroupi	Squatted

V: Common sentences

When you 'catch a cold' you 'attrapes un rhume'. When you're sick, tu es malade. When you wish to say that parts of your body are sore, you say "J'ai mal au/à la/à l'/aux [body part] ...". Example: J'ai mal à la tete. (I have a headache); J'ai mal aux dents (My teeth hurt).

E: 3.03 1 - Body Parts - Visual Memorization

Point to different parts of the body and recite its name in French par cœur.

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