A patient, Herr Weber, sees Dr. Schulz about feeling unwell. Describing how you feel in German runs almost entirely on a structure English lacks: the dative experiencer. You don't "have" a headache so much as the head "hurts to you". On top of that, ongoing symptoms use seit + present, body parts take the definite article, and advice arrives via the modal sollten. This dialogue is a compact tour of all four.
The text
Guten Tag, Herr Weber. Was kann ich für Sie tun?
Dr. Schulz: Hello, Mr. Weber. What can I do for you?
Guten Tag. Mir geht es seit ein paar Tagen nicht gut. Mir tut ständig der Kopf weh.
Herr Weber: Hello. I haven't been feeling well for a few days. My head hurts all the time.
Seit wann genau haben Sie die Kopfschmerzen?
Dr. Schulz: Since when exactly have you had the headache?
Seit drei Tagen. Und seit gestern tut mir auch der Hals weh.
Herr Weber: For three days. And since yesterday my throat has been hurting too.
Haben Sie Fieber gemessen?
Dr. Schulz: Have you taken your temperature?
Ja, gestern Abend hatte ich achtunddreißig Grad. Mir ist auch oft schwindlig.
Herr Weber: Yes, last night I had thirty-eight degrees. I often feel dizzy too.
Ist Ihnen auch übel oder schlecht?
Dr. Schulz: Do you also feel nauseous or sick?
Heute Morgen war mir kurz schlecht, aber jetzt geht es.
Herr Weber: This morning I felt sick briefly, but now it's okay.
Machen Sie bitte den Mund auf. Der Hals ist gerötet, das sieht nach einer Erkältung aus.
Dr. Schulz: Please open your mouth. The throat is red, it looks like a cold.
Was soll ich denn jetzt tun?
Herr Weber: So what should I do now?
Sie sollten viel trinken und sich ausruhen. Außerdem sollten Sie zwei Tage zu Hause bleiben.
Dr. Schulz: You should drink a lot and rest. You should also stay home for two days.
Und wenn es nicht besser wird?
Herr Weber: And if it doesn't get better?
Wenn das Fieber steigt, kommen Sie bitte sofort wieder. Gute Besserung!
Dr. Schulz: If the fever rises, please come back immediately. Get well soon!
Grammar in context
The dative experiencer: pain happens to you
This is the structure the whole dialogue is built on. German rarely says "I have a headache" as the primary way of complaining. Instead the body part is the grammatical subject and the person is in the dative: Mir tut der Kopf weh — literally "to-me hurts the head". The verb wehtun agrees with the body part (der Kopf is singular, so tut; plural would be tun), and the sufferer sits in the dative as the one affected. This is the dative of interest at work; see also feelings and states.
Mir tut ständig der Kopf weh.
My head hurts all the time.
Und seit gestern tut mir auch der Hals weh.
And since yesterday my throat has been hurting too.
The same dative-experiencer logic powers the sensation expressions: Mir ist schwindlig (I feel dizzy), Mir ist schlecht/übel (I feel sick), Mir geht es nicht gut (I'm not well). The person is never the subject of these — there is no real "I" doing anything; a state simply exists "for me".
Body parts take the definite article
Notice it is der Kopf, der Hals — the definite article, not the possessive mein. Because the dative mir already establishes whose body it is, German marks the part with der/die/das: Mir tut der Kopf weh, Machen Sie den Mund auf. Adding mein would be redundant and sounds foreign. See articles with body parts and possession.
Machen Sie bitte den Mund auf.
Please open your mouth.
seit + present for ongoing symptoms
Here is the second structure English speakers get wrong. A symptom that started in the past and is still going on uses seit + the present tense in German, where English uses the present perfect ("have had"). Ich habe *seit drei Tagen Kopfschmerzen = "I've had a headache for three days (and still do)". The preposition *seit always takes the dative (seit drei Tagen, seit gestern), and the verb stays present. See temporal prepositions.
Mir geht es seit ein paar Tagen nicht gut.
I haven't been feeling well for a few days.
Seit drei Tagen.
For three days.
Saying Ich hatte seit drei Tagen Kopfschmerzen (past tense) would imply the headache is over — the opposite of what the patient means.
Modal advice with sollten
The doctor gives advice with sollten, the Konjunktiv II of sollen, which is the standard polite "you should". The conjugated modal sits in second position and the main verb goes to the very end as an infinitive: Sie sollten viel trinken. With two pieces of advice joined, both infinitives stack at the end. See the modal sollen.
Sie sollten viel trinken und sich ausruhen.
You should drink a lot and rest.
Außerdem sollten Sie zwei Tage zu Hause bleiben.
You should also stay home for two days.
The Perfekt for what happened
When the doctor asks what the patient already did, the Perfekt appears: Haben Sie Fieber gemessen? (Have you taken your temperature?). For the symptom history that is still true, though, the patient stays in seit + present — so the dialogue naturally alternates between completed actions (Perfekt) and ongoing states (present). See the Perfekt.
Haben Sie Fieber gemessen?
Have you taken your temperature?
Vocabulary
| German | Gender | English |
|---|---|---|
| der Kopf | m. | head |
| der Hals | m. | throat, neck |
| der Bauch | m. | stomach, belly |
| die Kopfschmerzen | pl. | headache |
| wehtun (tut weh) | — | to hurt |
| das Fieber | n. | fever |
| schwindlig | — | dizzy |
| übel / schlecht | — | nauseous / sick |
| die Erkältung | f. | cold (illness) |
| sich ausruhen | — | to rest |
| Gute Besserung! | — | Get well soon! |
Common mistakes
❌ Ich bin schlecht.
Incorrect — this means 'I am a bad person'; sensations use the dative.
✅ Mir ist schlecht.
I feel sick.
❌ Ich habe Kopf weh.
Incorrect — wehtun needs the dative experiencer and the body part as subject.
✅ Mir tut der Kopf weh.
My head hurts.
❌ Ich hatte seit drei Tagen Husten.
Incorrect — an ongoing symptom uses seit + present, not the past.
✅ Ich habe seit drei Tagen Husten.
I've had a cough for three days.
❌ Mir tut mein Kopf weh.
Incorrect — the dative already shows possession, so use the definite article.
✅ Mir tut der Kopf weh.
My head hurts.
❌ Sie sollten viel zu trinken.
Incorrect — modals take a bare infinitive, not zu.
✅ Sie sollten viel trinken.
You should drink a lot.
Key takeaways
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Start learning German→Related Topics
- Expressing Feelings and Physical StatesB1 — The four systems for feelings — haben + noun (Hunger haben), sein + adjective (müde sein), reflexive verbs (sich freuen), and the dative experiencer (Mir ist schlecht, Mir tut der Kopf weh).
- The Dative of Interest and Free DativesB2 — The 'free' datives that aren't required by the verb — dative of interest, the possessive dative with body parts, and the ethical dative.
- Prepositions of TimeA2 — The German time prepositions — am, im, um, vor, nach, seit, bis, in, für, während — organized by clock, day, month, and duration.
- sollen: Obligation, Advice, and HearsayB1 — How to use sollen for external obligation, the sollte form for advice, and the distinctive hearsay reading (Er soll reich sein = 'he's said to be rich').
- Articles for Body Parts and Inalienable PossessionB1 — Why German says 'I wash myself the hands' instead of 'I wash my hands' — the definite article plus a dative pronoun marks who the body part belongs to.
- The Perfekt: Germany's Everyday Past TenseA2 — How the Perfekt is formed (haben/sein + past participle) and why it — not the Präteritum — is the normal spoken past in German.