· 26 lists · 1248 words

Health and the body

Where it hurts, and how to tell somebody.

What holds these lists together

The words you seldom need and then need at once — in the surgery, at the chemist’s, in A&E and later in the test results. The body brings a construction of its own. Spanish does not say that your head hurts; it says the head hurts you, with the article where English puts «my»: me duele la cabeza. Learn the pattern here and you have it for gustar and many other verbs. The clinical terms are built from Latin and look easier than they are, and everyday words mislead too. In Spain estar constipado means having a cold, and somebody who is merely embarrassed should not say estoy embarazada: it means pregnant.

The 26 lists

A1The body and healthBeing able to say what hurts.32 words B1At the doctor's and the chemist'sSaying what hurts, and understanding the reply.50 words B1Emergencies and safetyThe words for the minute after something goes wrong.50 words B1At the doctor and at the chemistSaying what hurts — and understanding what to do.34 words B1Emergencies and safetyThe words for the day something goes wrong.32 words C1The pharmacy and medicinesActive substance, form, interaction — what the leaflet says.50 words C1DentistryDecay, root, crown, gum — words for the chair where you cannot talk.50 words C1Eye medicineSight, pressure, retina — and what the spectacle prescription says.50 words C1Laboratory medicineSample, reference range, report — reading a lab sheet calmly.50 words C1PhysiotherapyAssessment, exercise, loading — what is actually said in the clinic.50 words C1Veterinary medicineExamination, vaccination, herd, disease — from the cat to the barn.50 words C1Pregnancy and birthAntenatal care, labour, birth, the weeks after — the words used in the delivery room and the clinic.50 words C1Emergency medical serviceCall, triage, first treatment, handover — what happens between the telephone and the hospital door.50 words C2ImmunologyAntigen, antibody, tolerance, memory — how the body tells what belongs to it.50 words C2NeuroscienceNeuron, synapse, network, plasticity — how the brain is described without explaining itself.50 words C2PharmacologyActive substance, dose, half-life, trial — how a medicine works and how that is shown.50 words C2EpidemiologyStudy designs, measures and sources of error — a science that talks about people in numbers.50 words C2OncologyDiagnosis, staging and treatment — the terms of a field that speaks in probabilities.50 words C2SurgeryApproaches, instruments, suturing and aftercare — how an operating theatre talks.50 words C2MicrobiologyBacteria, cultures, growth and resistance — the language of a field whose subject stays invisible.50 words C2ToxicologyDose, uptake, effect and limits — how the harm a substance does is established.50 words C2Exercise physiologyEnergy supply, thresholds, load management and recovery — what training sets off inside the body.50 words C2PsychiatryFindings, diagnosis, treatment and care — the technical language of a field with no laboratory value.50 words C2Nursing scienceAssessment, care planning, safety and handover — the technical language of a trade that is there around the clock.50 words C2Diagnostic imagingTechniques, contrast, reporting and radiation protection — the language of a field that reads nothing but shadows.50 words C2Doping and testingThe list, the sample, the proceedings and the penalty.50 words

Spread across the levels

The category runs across the levels — it is an area, not a difficulty. If you practise it, you can also choose a level at the top of the practice page and then get only the part that sits there.

Level	Words	Share
A1	31	2 %
A2	3	0 %
B1	164	13 %
C1	400	32 %
C2	650	52 %

Practise this category

Multiple choice and gaps, across all 26 lists and all 1248 words. Whatever you get wrong comes back tomorrow.