What's wrong?
To ask a friend what is wrong, say ¿Qué te pasa? Change the pronoun for other people: ¿Qué le pasa? (to usted, or about someone else).
| What's wrong? Are you ill? | ¿Qué te pasa? ¿Estás enfermo? |
| What's wrong with your sister? | ¿Qué le pasa a tu hermana? |
Answer with doler, with tener + the illness, or with encontrarse (to feel), which changes o → ue: me encuentro.
| I feel ill. | Me encuentro mal. |
| I have a cold. | Tengo un resfriado. |
| I have the flu and my whole body hurts. | Tengo gripe y me duele todo el cuerpo. |
| I have an allergy to cats. | Tengo alergia a los gatos. |
Note the article: tener *un resfriado, but *tener gripe and tener alergia with none.
Advice with deber
Deber + infinitive says what someone should or must do — advice, or a duty. It is a regular -er verb:
| person | deber |
|---|---|
| yo | debo |
| tú | debes |
| él / ella / usted | debe |
| nosotros / nosotras | debemos |
| vosotros / vosotras | debéis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | deben |
| You should rest. | Debes descansar. |
| What should I do, Doctor? | ¿Qué debo hacer, doctor? |
For shouldn't, put no before deber:
| You shouldn't smoke. | No debes fumar. |
Deber, tener que or hay que?
| form | who | it says | example |
|---|---|---|---|
| tener que | a person | I need to, I have no choice | Tengo que ir al médico mañana. |
| deber | a person | it is the right thing to do | Debes descansar. |
| hay que | nobody in particular | a general rule | Hay que lavarse las manos. |
| I have to go to the doctor tomorrow. | Tengo que ir al médico mañana. |
| One must wash one's hands. | Hay que lavarse las manos. |
Two common mistakes: no a after deber (not debes a descansar), and hay que never changes for the person.
At the surgery
You see the doctor in la consulta. Doctor / doctora is used as a title, with or without a surname; for the job itself Spanish prefers médico.
| Good morning, Doctor. | Buenos días, doctor. |
| Doctor García works in the afternoon. | La doctora García trabaja por la tarde. |
| You should take this medication with water. | Debes tomar este medicamento con agua. |
| I have an appointment with the dentist. | Tengo una cita con el dentista. |
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