At the Doctor

Visiting a Doctor in Persian

In this chapter you learn essential phrases and patterns for a basic visit to the doctor in Persian. You already know how simple present and simple past work, so here we focus on words and expressions that are specific to health, pain, and medical visits.

Key People and Places

To talk about going to the doctor, first you need a few basic nouns. Remember that Persian does not use grammatical gender for jobs, so the same word works for “doctor” of any gender unless you specify.

The word “doctor” is:

doctor, physician: دکتر /doktor/ or پزشک /pezeshk/

In everyday spoken Persian, دکتر /doktor/ is more common, especially when you talk directly to the doctor. You can address a doctor politely as:

دکتر! /doktor!/
آقای دکتر /âqâ-ye doktor/ “Mr Doctor”
خانم دکتر /khânom-e doktor/ “Ms/Mrs Doctor”

The “clinic” or “doctor’s office” is:

clinic: درمانگاه /darmângâh/
doctor’s office: مطب /matab/

The “hospital” is:

hospital: بیمارستان /bimârestân/

So you can say in simple present:

من می‌روم بیمارستان.
/ man miravam bimârestân. /
“I go to the hospital.”

Or in simple past:

دیروز به مطبِ دکتر رفتم.
/ diruz be matab-e doktor raftam. /
“Yesterday I went to the doctor’s office.”

Talking About Being Sick

To say that you are sick or not feeling well, the most common adjectives are:

sick, ill: مریض /mariz/, بیمار /bimâr/
healthy, well: سالم /sâlem/

You can combine them with the verb “to be,” which you already know, to make simple statements:

من مریض هستم.
/ man mariz hastam. /
“I am sick.”

من سالم هستم.
/ man sâlem hastam. /
“I am healthy.”

In informal spoken Persian you will often hear:

من مریضم. / man marizam. /
“I am sick.”

If you want to soften it, you can say:

حالم خوب نیست.
/ hâlam khub nist. /
“I don’t feel well.” or literally “My condition is not good.”

Here حال /hâl/ means “condition, state” and with the possessive ending it becomes “my condition”: حالم /hâlam/.

You can also say:

حالم بده.
/ hâlam bade. /
“I feel bad / I feel sick.”

Common Symptoms

When you are at the doctor, you will usually describe your symptoms. In Persian, the word for “pain” is درد /dard/. To say “I have pain,” you usually say “my X hurts” by combining the body part plus درد می‌کند /dard mikonad/ which in spoken form is درد می‌کنه /dard mikone/.

You already know the present tense pattern, so notice how it works here:

سرم درد می‌کند.
/ saram dard mikonad. /
“My head hurts.” / “I have a headache.”

Literally, “My head does pain.” The possessive ending on سر /sar/ gives “my head”: سرم /saram/.

Some useful body parts:

head: سر /sar/
stomach / belly: شکم /shekam/
throat: گلو /galu/
back: کمر /kamar/
tooth: دندان /dandân/ (spoken: دندون /dandun/)
ear: گوش /gush/
eye: چشم /cheshm/

Now you can build many symptom sentences:

شکمم درد می‌کند.
/ shekamam dard mikonad. /
“My stomach hurts.”

گلوم درد می‌کند.
/ galum dard mikonad. /
“My throat hurts.”

کمرم درد می‌کند.
/ kamar‑am dard mikonad. /
“My back hurts.”

دندانم درد می‌کند.
/ dandânam dard mikonad. /
“My tooth hurts.” / “I have toothache.”

For a fever or a cold you say:

fever: تب /tab/
cold (illness): سرماخوردگی /sarmâkhordegi/

So:

تب دارم.
/ tab dâram. /
“I have a fever.”

سرما خورده‌ام.
/ sarmâ khorde‑am. /
“I have caught a cold / I have a cold.”

In spoken language, people usually say:

سرما خوردم.
/ sarmâ khordam. /
“I caught a cold.”

And for cough:

cough: سرفه /serfe/

سرفه می‌کنم.
/ serfe mikonam. /
“I am coughing.”

You can also use the adjective مریض /mariz/ with a specific area:

چشمم مریض است.
/ cheshmam mariz ast. /
“My eye is sick / I have a problem with my eye.”

In practice, for A2 level, it is more natural to use درد /dard/ + body part for simple symptoms.

Saying Where It Hurts and How Much

Sometimes the doctor asks you a question like:

کجا درد می‌کند؟
/ kojâ dard mikonad? /
“Where does it hurt?”

Here کجا /kojâ/ means “where.” You answer with the body part plus درد می‌کند:

سرم درد می‌کند.
“My head hurts.”

If you want to specify right or left, you can add:

right: راست /râst/
left: چپ /chap/

For example:

دستِ راستَم درد می‌کند.
/ dast‑e râstam dard mikonad. /
“My right arm/hand hurts.”

The word دست /dast/ can mean “hand” or “arm” depending on context.

To talk about the intensity of pain, you need some adverbs:

a lot, very: خیلی /kheyli/
a little: کمی /kami/ or یه کم /ye kam/ (informal)

You can combine these with درد /dard/ and adjectives:

خیلی درد دارد.
/ kheyli dard dârad. /
“It hurts a lot.”

کمی درد دارم.
/ kami dard dâram. /
“I have a little pain.”

You can also qualify your general state:

خیلی حالم بده.
/ kheyli hâlam bade. /
“I feel really bad.”

یه کم حالم بده.
/ ye kam hâlam bade. /
“I feel a bit bad.”

How Long Have You Been Sick?

The doctor will often ask how long you have had the problem. At A2 you already know some time expressions, so you just combine them with present tense.

For example:

از دیروز.
/ az diruz. /
“Since yesterday.”

چند روزه؟
/ chand ruze? /
“For how many days?”

You can answer:

دو روزه سردرد دارم.
/ do ruze sardard dâram. /
“I have had a headache for two days.”

Here سردرد /sardard/ literally means “headache.” It is formed from سر /sar/ “head” + درد /dard/ “pain.” You can treat it like a normal noun:

سردرد شدید دارم.
/ sardard‑e shadid dâram. /
“I have a strong headache.”

Also:

سه روزه تب دارم.
/ se ruze tab dâram. /
“I have had a fever for three days.”

اگر /agar/ meaning “if” and other complex patterns belong to later chapters, so for now keep it simple with present tense and time words.

Basic Questions at the Doctor’s Office

At the clinic, you will hear simple questions like:

چی شده؟
/ chi shode? /
“What happened? / What is wrong?”

چه مشکلی دارید؟
/ che moshkeli dârid? /
“What problem do you have?” / “What is the problem?”

Here مشکل /moshkel/ means “problem.”

You can answer with:

سرم درد می‌کند.
“I have a headache.”

تب دارم.
“I have a fever.”

حالم خوب نیست.
“I do not feel well.”

The receptionist might ask:

اسمتان چیست؟
/ esmetân chist? /
“What is your name?” (polite)

شماره تلفن دارید؟
/ shomâre telefon dârid? /
“Do you have a phone number?”

These use patterns you already know, so focus on understanding them in this context.

If you want to explain how you feel in a bit more detail, you can say:

خیلی خسته‌ام.
/ kheyli khaste‑am. /
“I am very tired.”

کمی سرگیجه دارم.
/ kami sargije dâram. /
“I feel a bit dizzy.”
Here سرگیجه /sargije/ means “dizziness.”

Following the Doctor’s Instructions

During the examination, the doctor may give you simple commands using the imperative. For A2 you do not need to study all forms, but here are some very frequent ones that you can recognize.

The polite command is made with بفرمایید /befarmâyid/ or other polite forms, but doctors often speak simply and kindly:

نفسِ عمیق بکشید.
/ nafas‑e amigh bekeshid. /
“Take a deep breath.”
نفس /nafas/ is “breath” and عمیق /amigh/ is “deep.”

دهان‌تان را باز کنید.
/ dahân‑etân râ bâz konid. /
“Open your mouth.”

Here دهان /dahân/ means “mouth,” and باز /bâz/ means “open.”

بنشینید.
/ beneshinid. /
“Sit down.”

بایستید.
/ bâistid. /
“Stand up.”

After examining you, the doctor may say what you have:

سرما خوردگی است.
/ sarmâ khordegi ast. /
“It is a cold.”

مشکلِ جدی نیست.
/ moshkel‑e joddi nist. /
“It is not a serious problem.”

جدی /joddi/ means “serious.”

Or:

باید استراحت کنید.
/ bâyad esterâhat konid. /
“You must rest.”

Here استراحت /esterâhat/ means “rest.” The verb is “to rest” استراحت کردن /esterâhat kardan/ but in this sentence the doctor uses the polite imperative “rest.”

Medicine and Treatment

At the end of the visit, the doctor usually gives you medicine. Common words:

medicine: دوا /davâ/ (colloquial), دارو /dâru/ (more standard)
pill, tablet: قرص /ghors/
syrup: شربت /sharbat/
injection, shot: آمپول /âmpul/

The most common verb is “to take” for medicine:

قرص بخورید.
/ ghors bokhorid. /
“Take a pill.”

داروهایتان را سرِ وقت بخورید.
/ dâruhâyetân râ sar‑e vaqt bokhorid. /
“Take your medicines on time.”

For A2 level you can keep it simpler:

این قرص‌ها را روزی سه بار بخورید.
/ in ghors‑hâ râ ruzi se bâr bokhorid. /
“Take these pills three times a day.”

We already studied numbers before, so here you only need the pattern “times per day”:

بار /bâr/ “time (occasion)”
روزی سه بار /ruzi se bâr/ “three times a day”

The doctor may also say:

این نسخه است.
/ in noskhe ast. /
“This is the prescription.”

نسخه /noskhe/ is “prescription.” At the pharmacy, the word for “pharmacy” is:

pharmacy: داروخانه /dârukhâne/

So the doctor might tell you:

به داروخانه بروید.
/ be dârukhâne beravid. /
“Go to the pharmacy.”

If you want to ask how to take the medicine, you can say:

چطور این دارو را بخورم؟
/ chetor in dâru râ bokhoram? /
“How should I take this medicine?”

At this level it is enough if you understand the doctor’s simple instructions and recognize words like قرص and دارو.

Important Safety and Allergy Phrases

It is important to explain allergies or special conditions. You can use the word “allergy” which is almost the same as English:

allergy: آلرژی /âlerzhi/

You can say:

من آلرژی دارم.
/ man âlerzhi dâram. /
“I have an allergy.”

For example:

به پنی‌سیلین آلرژی دارم.
/ be penicilin âlerzhi dâram. /
“I am allergic to penicillin.”

The preposition به /be/ “to” is used with the thing you are allergic to.

If you are pregnant, which may be important for medicine, the word is:

pregnant: باردار /bârdâr/

من باردار هستم.
/ man bârdâr hastam. /
“I am pregnant.”

If you want to say you do not want an injection:

نمی‌خواهم آمپول بزنم.
/ nemikhâham âmpul bezanam. /
“I do not want to get a shot.”

Here آمپول زدن /âmpul zadan/ literally “to hit an injection” is the usual way to say “to get a shot.”

This simple structure will help you communicate most basic health problems in Persian.

Vocabulary Table for “At the Doctor”