B1 · 35 words
Doctor and chemist in French
Appointment, prescription, and the words for what hurts.
Practise this list
From these 35 words, as many per round as you like — up to all of them: first what is due today, then new ones. First you choose, then you fill the gap, then you write it yourself. Mistakes come back again shortly.
More about this list
The list for a visit nobody plans, and it holds one word that splits in a way English never does. La radio is the radio set — j’écoute la radio le matin — and it is also the X-ray, because it is short for la radiographie. So le médecin regarde la radio is a doctor looking at a plate, not at a wireless. The two senses share a root, radius, the ray: one is the ray broadcast through the air, the other the ray sent through a body. English kept the first and named the second after the letter Röntgen used for something he could not identify, so nothing in « X-ray » points back to « radio » at all. The giveaway is the verb: you listen to one and you look at the other, and French lets the sentence decide.
The words
Verb (4)
se casserto break (a bone)VerbB1
se foulerto sprainVerbB1
s’évanouirto faintVerbB1
guérirto get better, to healVerbB1
Adjective (1)
Grammar for these: Adjective agreement · Where the adjective goes
enfléswollenAdjectiveB1
Phrase (1)
à jeunon an empty stomachPhraseB1
Noun (m) (14)
Grammar for these: Definite article: le, la, les · Indefinite article: un, une
le médecin traitantthe GPNoun (m)B1
le compriméthe tabletNoun (m)B1
le siropthe cough syrupNoun (m)B1
l’effet secondairethe side effectNoun (m)B1
le symptômethe symptomNoun (m)B1
le diagnosticthe diagnosisNoun (m)B1
le vaccinthe vaccineNoun (m)B1
le traitementthe treatmentNoun (m)B1
l’arrêt de travailthe sick noteNoun (m)B1
le remboursementthe reimbursementNoun (m)B1
le pansementthe dressing, the plasterNoun (m)B1
le spécialistethe consultant, the specialistNoun (m)B1
le servicethe ward, the departmentNoun (m)B1
le dossier médicalthe medical recordsNoun (m)B1
Noun (f) (15)
Grammar for these: Definite article: le, la, les · Indefinite article: un, une
les urgencesA&E, the emergency departmentNoun (f)B1
la carte Vitalethe health insurance cardNoun (f)B1
la consultationthe consultationNoun (f)B1
la pommadethe ointmentNoun (f)B1
la dosethe doseNoun (f)B1
la prise de sangthe blood testNoun (f)B1
la tensionthe blood pressureNoun (f)B1
l’opérationthe operationNoun (f)B1
la mutuellethe top-up health insuranceNoun (f)B1
l’allergiethe allergyNoun (f)B1
la blessurethe injury, the woundNoun (f)B1
la brûlurethe burnNoun (f)B1
l’ambulancethe ambulanceNoun (f)B1
la date de péremptionthe expiry dateNoun (f)B1
la radiothe X-rayNoun (f)B1
Missing a word? Look it up in the dictionary
This list belongs to Home, family and everyday life — 32 lists and 1 134 words that can also be practised as a whole.