Trips to the doctor’s or the hospital are not on anyone’s itinerary while travelling abroad. However, if you do happen to fall ill or need medical advice in Italy, this blog will give you the confidence to talk to a doctor, dentist or pharmacist to help you get what you need.
Describing the problem
If a doctor asks you to describe what the problem is, you can generally use ho mal di… followed by whatever it is that hurts. Ho, meaning I have, comes from the verb avere (to have).
Ho mal di testa I’ve got a headache
Ho mal di stomaco I’ve got stomach ache
Ha mal di denti She’s got toothache
Ho… can also be used to describe common illnesses and health conditions:
Ho febbre I’ve got a temperature
Mio figlio ha il raffreddore My son has a cold
Ho la pressione alta I have high blood pressure
Non so cos’ho I don’t know what’s wrong with me
Saying what happened
If you’ve had some sort of accident, you will probably need to explain what happened.
You can use ho or sono followed by the past participle. For example, ho avuto un incidente (I’ve had an accident), ho sbattuto la testa (I’ve bumped my head), or sono caduto/sono caduta dalle scale (I’ve fallen down the stairs).
If you’re unfortunate enough to have broken something, use mi sono rotto…, or if you are a woman, mi sono rotta… (I’ve broken…).
Mi sono rotto la clavicula l’anno scorso I broke my collarbone last year
Si è rotto una gamba He’s broken his leg
Si è rotta un dente She’s broken a tooth
Credo di essermi rotta il braccio I think I’ve broken my arm
Mi sono slogato la caviglia I’ve sprained my ankle
You may notice that, to say you’ve hurt something in Italian, the articles un/una and il/la are used. This is because in Italian you say I’ve broken a leg or the ankle and so on instead of I’ve broken my leg or my ankle and so on.
Asking for something
If you’re seeking medication from a pharmacy, for example, you can use ha…? (do you have…?), which comes from the verb avere (to have).
Ha qualcosa per il mal di testa? Do you have something for a headache?
Ha qualcosa per la febbre da fieno? Do you have something for hay fever?
You can also use the common phrase, ho bisogno di… (I need…):
Ho bisogno della pillola del giorno dopo I need the morning after pill
Ho bisogno di paracetamolo I need some paracetamol
Hopefully you won’t need to use these phrases so often, but they are useful to know just in case the worst should happen. Don’t forget to come back for the next blog post to help you continue with the conversation!
