Learn English Phrases: How to Talk About Sickness in English (Free Mp3 File!)

- Hello, this is Jack from tofluency.com

and in this English lesson I'm going to give you words

and phrases that you can use to talk about sickness.

So we're going to look at the difference

between sore and ache,

I'm going to talk about differences

between British and American English,

and I'm also going to help you practice

when it comes to stress in certain words and the intonation

so that you can really get across how sick you feel.

But before we get into the phrases,

there are two things I need to tell you.

Firstly, I have a free gift for you,

and you can download this

and I'll give you the information on it

at the end of the lesson.

Also, my wife and I recorded a conversation

where we talked about getting sick,

so be sure to watch that after this video too.

When talking about feeling sick in general,

there are a few ways that you can do this.

You can say,

I feel sick.

I feel sick.

Or simply,

I'm sick.

And later we'll look at the difference between

I feel sick,

and

I feel like I'm going to be sick.

But for now, know that we can say,

I'm sick,

or,

I feel sick.

You can also say,

I don't feel well,

or,

I don't feel very well.

Now, most people say this in a bit of a down way.

For example,

I don't feel very well today.

I don't feel very well today.

If you want something a little bit stronger,

you can say,

I feel terrible today.

I feel terrible today.

Or just simply,

I feel terrible.

Now notice that I stress the word terrible.

This gives it more emphasis.

I feel terrible.

Let's talk about colds and sneezing now.

The simple way to say you have a cold,

is to say,

I have a cold.

Now, look at the difference between these two sentences.

I have a cold,

and,

I've got a cold.

I have a cold,

and,

I've got a cold.

When using these two phrases, know that

I have a cold,

is more common in American English, and

I've got a cold,

is more common in British English.

We can use the word terrible again

to give it more emphasis.

I've got a terrible cold at the moment.

I've got a terrible cold at the moment.

You'll also here people say,

I've got an awful cold at the moment.

I've got an awful cold at the moment.

Here are two fun phrases relating to colds.

I've got a stuffy nose

and,

I've got a runny nose.

To have a stuffy nose means that

you can't really breathe out of your nose.

So it's difficult to breathe when you have

a stuffy nose,

and this is especially problematic at night

when you can't sleep,

and you wake up,

and you have to sit up in bed

because you've got such a stuffy nose.

To have a runny nose is a little bit different,

and it means that liquid comes out of your nose.

You have such a bad cold,

that liquid just comes out of your nose,

and that's what it means to have a runny nose.

People with colds usually,

usually (bleep)...

People with colds usually sneeze a lot.

Now, do you know what to say

to someone who sneezes?

It is,

bless you.

Bless you.

So usually someone sneezes,

somebody else says bless you,

and the person who sneezes says, thank you.

Let's talk about the word ache now,

and we'll start with the head.

Again, there's a difference in

British and American English.

I have a headache.

I've got a headache.

I have a headache.

I've got a headache.

I want to talk a little bit now about connected speech,

and relaxed pronunciation,

because you don't hear people say,

I've got a headache.

Instead, in the UK, it is this.

I've gotta headache.

I've gotta headache.

I've gotta headache.

So, got a becomes gotta,

and everything comes together

so it sounds like it's one word.

I've gotta headache.

I've gotta headache.

We also use ache with stomach.

I've gotta stomach ache.

And, like most things that I'm gonna

talk about in this video,

we can use the word terrible or awful.

I've got a terrible stomach ache.

I've got a terrible stomach ache.

We've talked about ache,

now let's talk about sore.

We can use the word sore

with things like throat.

Probably the most common one.

I've got a sore throat.

I've got a sore throat.

Here's a quick question for you at this stage.

What is the best way to cure a sore throat?

What is the best way to cure a sore throat?

Leave your answers in the comment section below.

I'm intrigued to know what you do

when you have a sore throat.

We also use sore for neck.

I've got a sore neck.

You'll see people rubbing their neck

to let you know that it's really sore.

I've got a sore neck.

The last time I had a really sore neck

was on Christmas vacation,

and I spent the entire night on the sofa

because my son didn't want to sleep

in the same room as my sister,

and he wanted to sleep on the sofa

with his dad.

But this meant that I wasn't very comfortable.

My neck was in this really weird position,

and I actually made a video on this.

I recorded a live lesson,

where I talked about having a sore neck.

I'll leave a link in the description for you.

Yeah, the last time I had a sore neck

was on Christmas vacation.

You can also have a sore back,

and you can have sore muscles in general.

Now, this might be because you're feeling really sick.

But also, it could be from playing sports.

So, I got really sore legs after I went biking

with a friend,

and I hadn't been biking for years.

So we went mountain biking,

and it was really difficult,

and the next day,

I had really sore legs.

If you have a terrible ache somewhere,

or your muscles are really sore,

you can use this idiom.

Okay, are you ready?

My back is killing me.

My back is killing me.

My head is killing me.

My throat is killing me.

My neck is killing me.

Now, I made a video on this.

I'll leave a link in the description for you.

But just practice after me,

and try to copy the way I say it, too.

My neck is killing me.

The word sick can be used in two main ways.

The first way is what I mentioned at the start

of this video,

where I talked about how you feel.

I feel sick.

I don't feel well.

I feel terrible.

But it can also mean to vomit or to throw up.

Now, a very common thing to say

just before you're going to throw up, is this.

I feel like I'm going to be sick.

I feel like I'm going to be sick.

And usually people say this with some panic.

I feel like I'm going to be sick.

Because, it's not a nice experience.

Now, we use the verb going to,

because we're talking about a prediction

based on how we feel.

And it's similar to saying

there's a black cloud over there.

It's going to rain soon.

Manchester United look a great team at the moment.

They're going to win today.

If we base our prediction on evidence

then we use going to.

And again, I made a lesson on this,

so go check that out.

There is a link in the description.

If your body temperature goes above

100.4 degrees Fahrenheit,

or 38 degerees Celsius,

I think that's right,

then, you either have a fever or a temperature.

And this is a difference between British

and American English.

In British English we say,

my son has a temperature today.

He can't go to school.

In American English,

My son has a fever today.

He can't go to school.

So there's a difference there.

A fever and a temperature.

But I think that if you use either of those

in the other country,

then it will work out fine.

Now, my son actually had a fever

about three weeks ago,

and his teacher called me to say,

"Thomas has a fever,

you need to come and pick him up."

You need to come and pick him up.

And to pick someone up

means to go and collect them.

After watching a video like this,

it can be difficult to really learn these phrases

over the long term,

to be able to commit them to memory.

And that is why I have a free gift for you.

It is all the phrases that I used in this lesson,

and I'll throw in some other ones, too.

In both text format and audio format.

And I'm going to give you a method

that you can follow

for free,

so that you can learn these phrases

and be able to use them

in a flexible way.

You'll be able to get the repetition you need

to commit these phrases to memory,

but you'll also learn the grammar,

and also how to say them correctly.

So all you need to do is click over here,

and download that free gift.

If you want to watch the lesson that my wife and I made,

then click over here,

and watch that now.

(electronic music)

Thank you so much for being here.

If you've enjoyed that,

please like and share,

and I'll see you in the next lesson.

(electronic hip hop)