yīshēng shuō tā de zhèngzhuàng bù tài yánzhòng, kěshì yào duō hē shuǐ.

Mandarin verbs do not change form for tense the way English verbs do. So 说 can mean say, says, or said, depending on context.

In this sentence, English naturally uses said, but the Chinese itself does not mark past tense. If you wanted to make the past more explicit, you could add a time word such as 刚才 or 昨天.

This is an example of reported speech or indirect speech. In Chinese, it is very common to say:

A 说 + clause

So 医生说她的症状不太严重 means The doctor said that her symptoms are not too serious.

If it were direct speech, you might see quotation marks in writing, but they are not necessary for this kind of sentence.

的 is the possessive particle. It links 她 and 症状 to mean her symptoms.

So:

• 她 = she / her
• 她的症状 = her symptoms

This is one of the most common uses of 的: showing possession or a close relationship between two nouns.

Because 严重 is an adjective, and in Mandarin, adjectives can often act as the predicate by themselves.

So Chinese says:

症状不太严重

literally something like:

the symptoms not-too serious

You do not normally say 症状是不太严重 in this kind of plain description. Using 是 here would usually sound unnatural.

Not exactly.

• 不严重 = not serious
• 不太严重 = not too serious / not very serious

不太 + adjective often sounds softer and more natural than a plain negative. It suggests the condition is not severe, but it does not necessarily mean there is no problem at all.

So 不太严重 is a very natural way to express mild reassurance.

In careful dictionary form, 不 is fourth tone: bù. But before another fourth tone, 不 usually changes to second tone in actual speech.

Since 太 is fourth tone (tài), 不太 is pronounced:

bú tài

This is a very common tone change rule.

Yes, 可是 and 但是 are both common words for but.

In this sentence, 可是 introduces a contrast:

• her symptoms are not too serious
• but she still needs to drink more water

可是 often sounds a little more conversational or a little stronger in tone than 但是, but in many everyday sentences they are interchangeable.

That is a great question. Chinese often omits words that are already clear from context, especially subjects.

So:

可是要多喝水

is understood as:

可是她要多喝水

Because the subject is obviously still 她, native speakers often leave it out.

This kind of omission is very common in natural Mandarin.

Here 要 means need to, should, or must, depending on context.

It does not mean want here. The doctor is giving advice or instruction, so 要多喝水 means:

• needs to drink more water
• should drink more water

In other contexts, 要 can mean want, so you always need to judge from the sentence.

Here 多 works adverbially, modifying the verb 喝. It means do more of the action.

So:

• 多喝水 = drink more water / drink water more often / increase water intake

喝多水 is not the normal way to say this.

A useful comparison:

• 多喝水 = drink more water
• 喝很多水 = drink a lot of water

The first emphasizes increasing the action, while the second emphasizes a large amount.

Chinese nouns usually do not change form for singular vs. plural the way English nouns do. 症状 can mean symptom or symptoms, depending on context.

In this sentence, English naturally uses symptoms, but the Chinese word itself stays the same.

That is very normal in Mandarin: number is often understood from context instead of being marked directly.

In standard spoken Mandarin, they are all pronounced tā.

The difference is mainly in writing:

• 他 = he / him
• 她 = she / her
• 它 = it

So when you hear tā, you usually need context to know which one is meant. In this sentence, the written form 她 tells you it is she/her.

Yes. The comma separates the two clauses:

• 医生说她的症状不太严重
• 可是要多喝水

It helps show the pause and the contrast. Chinese punctuation is used a lot like English punctuation in this kind of sentence, although the marks are usually full-width in Chinese writing.