Hindi usually presents illness and sensation as something experienced, located in a body part, or arising as a condition—not as an object someone “has.” The core frames are person को + symptom + होना, person के body part में + दर्द होना, body part + दुखना, and person को + sensation + लगना/आना.
These patterns determine case and agreement. In मुझे ठंड लग रही है, the experiencer is मुझे, but feminine ठंड controls रही. In मेरे सिर में दर्द है, the pain is located “in my head.” Learn the whole predicate frame together with the health word.
General condition: तबीयत ठीक/ख़राब होना
तबीयत means one's physical condition or health in these expressions. It is feminine, so adjectives and participles agree accordingly.
आज मेरी तबीयत ठीक नहीं है।
āj merī tabīyat ṭhīk nahīṃ hai.
I'm not feeling well today.
कल रात उसकी तबीयत अचानक ख़राब हो गई।
kal rāt uskī tabīyat acānak xarāb ho gaī.
He/She suddenly became unwell last night.
Indeclinable ठीक/ख़राब does not visibly change, but मेरी/उसकी and हो गई show feminine agreement with तबीयत. A respectful welfare question is अब आपकी तबीयत कैसी है?.
अब आपकी तबीयत कैसी है? — पहले से बेहतर है।
ab āpkī tabīyat kaisī hai? — pahle se behtar hai.
How are you feeling now? — Better than before. (respectful)
Literal English “How is your health?” can sound clinical. तबीयत कैसी है? is the established Hindi social and medical collocation.
Symptoms as experienced conditions
Fever, cough, vomiting, and many other conditions use an experiencer in को form plus a symptom noun and होना. Nausea may be expressed as मतली होना, while the common predicate जी मिचलाना follows a different pattern explained below.
मुझे तेज़ बुख़ार और खाँसी है।
mujhe tez buxār aur khā̃sī hai.
I have a high fever and a cough.
बच्चे को सुबह से उल्टी हो रही है।
bacce ko subah se ulṭī ho rahī hai.
The child has been vomiting since morning.
English have does not license मेरे पास बुख़ार है. के पास presents an available possession; illness belongs to the experiencer frame. This broader contrast is explained under English “have” in Hindi.
The present state and onset differ:
उसे बुख़ार है।
use buxār hai.
He/She has a fever. (current state)
उसे रात में बुख़ार हो गया।
use rāt meṃ buxār ho gayā.
He/She developed a fever during the night. (onset)
Masculine बुख़ार controls हो गया. Colloquial बुख़ार चढ़ गया vividly presents fever rising (informal/neutral spoken); clinical or neutral reporting can stay with हो गया.
Pain located in a body part
The productive location frame is possessor के body part में दर्द है/हो रहा है.
मेरे सिर में बहुत दर्द है।
mere sir meṃ bahut dard hai.
I have a bad pain in my head / a bad headache.
क्या आपके पेट में लगातार दर्द हो रहा है?
kyā āpke peṭ meṃ lagātār dard ho rahā hai?
Do you have continuous abdominal pain? (respectful)
सिरदर्द is a fixed compound for headache: मुझे सिरदर्द है. It does not require में because the body location is already built into the compound.
सुबह से मुझे हल्का सिरदर्द है।
subah se mujhe halkā sirdard hai.
I've had a mild headache since morning.
Another natural frame makes the body part the subject of दुखना:
कल से मेरी कमर दुख रही है।
kal se merī kamar dukh rahī hai.
My lower back has been aching since yesterday.
Feminine कमर controls मेरी and दुख रही है. For a masculine body part: मेरा सिर दुख रहा है. English my head hurts is structurally close to this pattern, but English I hurt in my head is not.
Injury: person को or possessor के body part में चोट लगना
चोट लगना presents an injury as having struck or affected someone. Hindi allows a dative experiencer plus a body-part location—उसे घुटने में चोट लगी—or a possessive body-part phrase—उसके घुटने में चोट लगी. In both, the body location takes में.
उसे घुटने में चोट लगी।
use ghuṭne meṃ coṭ lagī.
He/She injured a knee.
गिरने से उसके घुटने में चोट लग गई।
girne se uske ghuṭne meṃ coṭ lag gaī.
He/She injured a knee in the fall.
मेरे टखने में मोच आ गई है।
mere ṭakhne meṃ moc ā gaī hai.
I have sprained my ankle. (literally, a sprain has come in my ankle)
Feminine चोट controls लग गई; feminine मोच controls आ गई. से in गिरने से marks cause. A transitive sentence such as मैंने अपना हाथ चोट किया is a calque and not the ordinary way to describe accidental injury.
Sensations with लगना and आना
Temperature discomfort, dizziness, nausea, sleepiness, and breathlessness select conventional predicates.
| Expression | Idiomatic meaning |
|---|---|
| मुझे ठंड/गर्मी लग रही है | I feel cold/hot |
| मुझे चक्कर आ रहे हैं | I feel dizzy |
| मेरा जी मिचला रहा है | I feel nauseated |
| मुझे नींद आ रही है | I feel sleepy |
| मेरी साँस फूल रही है | I am short of breath from exertion |
| मुझे साँस लेने में तकलीफ़ है | I have difficulty breathing |
इतनी देर धूप में रहने से मुझे चक्कर आ रहे हैं।
itnī der dhūp meṃ rahne se mujhe cakkar ā rahe haiṃ.
After being in the sun so long, I feel dizzy.
सीढ़ियाँ चढ़ने के बाद मेरी साँस फूल रही है।
sīṛhiyā̃ caṛhne ke bād merī sā̃s phūl rahī hai.
I'm out of breath after climbing the stairs.
Plural-form चक्कर takes आ रहे हैं. Feminine साँस takes मेरी and फूल रही है. साँस फूलना literally pictures the breath swelling, but idiomatically denotes breathlessness, often from exertion; साँस लेने में तकलीफ़ is the clearer expression for breathing difficulty.
Relief and recovery
Common treatment-result collocations include दवा लेना, आराम करना, ठीक होना, and राहत मिलना.
दवा लेने के बाद दर्द में काफ़ी राहत मिली।
davā lene ke bād dard meṃ kāfī rāhat milī.
The medicine brought considerable relief from the pain.
The source of relief can take से: इस दवा से मुझे राहत मिली. The recipient takes को, and feminine राहत controls मिली. आराम मिलना can also mean obtain relief, while आराम करना means rest; the light verb changes the participant structure.
आज घर पर आराम करो; तबीयत ठीक हो जाएगी।
āj ghar par ārām karo; tabīyat ṭhīk ho jāegī.
Rest at home today; you'll feel better. (familiar)
A short clinic dialogue
डॉक्टर: आपको कहाँ दर्द हो रहा है? — मरीज़: पेट के दाईं ओर तेज़ दर्द है और जी भी मिचला रहा है। — डॉक्टर: बुख़ार या उल्टी हुई है? — मरीज़: बुख़ार नहीं है, लेकिन सुबह एक बार उल्टी हुई थी।
ḍokṭar: āpko kahā̃ dard ho rahā hai? — marīz: peṭ ke dāīṃ or tez dard hai aur jī bhī miclā rahā hai. — ḍokṭar: buxār yā ulṭī huī hai? — marīz: buxār nahīṃ hai, lekin subah ek bār ulṭī huī thī.
Doctor: Where are you experiencing pain? — Patient: There is severe pain on the right side of my abdomen, and I also feel nauseated. — Doctor: Have you had a fever or vomiting? — Patient: No fever, but I vomited once this morning.
The doctor's आपको कहाँ दर्द हो रहा है? asks for the experienced location without assuming a body part. Once specified, the patient uses a locative phrase.
Common Mistakes
❌ मेरे पास कल से तेज़ बुख़ार है।
Incorrect ordinary health frame: fever is experienced, not possessed as an available item.
✅ मुझे बुख़ार है।
mujhe buxār hai.
I have a fever.
❌ मैं सिरदर्द हूँ।
Incorrect: the person is not equated with the headache.
✅ मुझे सिरदर्द है।
mujhe sirdard hai.
I have a headache.
❌ मेरा सिर दर्द करता है।
A common word-for-word calque; ordinary Hindi uses सिर में दर्द होना or सिर दुखना.
✅ मेरा सिर दुख रहा है।
merā sir dukh rahā hai.
My head hurts.
❌ मुझे ठंड लग रहा है।
Incorrect agreement: feminine ठंड controls लग रही है.
✅ मुझे ठंड लग रही है।
mujhe ṭhaṇḍ lag rahī hai.
I feel cold.
Key Takeaways
- Health states usually take an experiencer in को form, not के पास possession.
- Locate pain with body part में दर्द, or make the body part the subject of दुखना.
- Learn injuries and sensations as frames: चोट लगना, मोच आना, चक्कर आना, साँस फूलना.
- Agreement normally follows the symptom noun, not the experiencer.
- है, हो गया, and हो रहा है distinguish current state, onset, and ongoing episode.
Now practice Hindi
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- Translating English have with a Hindi verbB1 — Replace one-to-one translations of English have with the Hindi construction that expresses ownership, access, relation, experience, event, or obligation.
- लगना lagnā: to seem feel attach and beginA2 — Reference लगना across seeming, bodily sensation, attachment, time and cost, and infinitive-plus-लगना onset frames.
- के पास possession and proximityA2 — Use के पास for physical nearness and possessive existence, distinguishing what someone has from what belongs to them.
- Pronouns with कोA2 — Use the conventional को-series मुझे, तुझे, तुम्हें, आपको, इसे, उसे, इन्हें, and उन्हें for objects, recipients, and experiencers.
- Predicative adjectives with होनाA2 — Build clauses in which an adjective describes the subject through present, past, or future forms of होना.
- Complex predicates with देना and मिलनाC1 — Contrast देना predicates that profile a source or grantor with मिलना predicates that present the same benefit as received or available.