Lesson 14: Health, Body & Weather — 健康、身体和天气

Nobody plans to be ill in a foreign language, but everybody needs the words when it happens. This lesson has two halves that share one vocabulary engine — describing how you feel and describing the world outside. For the body: 头 (tóu, head), 眼睛 (yǎnjing, eyes), 疼 (téng, to ache) and the clinic vocabulary 感冒 (gǎnmào, a cold), 发烧 (fāshāo, a fever), 看病 (kànbìng, to see a doctor), 药 (yào, medicine). For the weather: 天气 (tiānqì), 下雨 (xiàyǔ, to rain), 刮风 (guāfēng, to blow [wind]), 晴天 (qíngtiān, sunny) and 阴天 (yīntiān, overcast). Health Chinese is wonderfully direct: you say which body part 疼， add how you feel, and the doctor does the rest.

Key vocabulary

Grammar patterns: symptoms and forecasts

Symptoms do not need a verb "to have": the body part is the subject and 疼 is the predicate — 我牙疼 (Wǒ yá téng, my tooth aches), 他腿疼 (Tā tuǐ téng, his leg hurts). Weather verbs work the same way: 下雨 and 刮风 are verb-object pairs that act like single verbs, so 明天下雨 needs no extra subject at all — the sky is understood.

Example sentences

• 我今天不舒服，我头疼。 (Wǒ jīntiān bù shūfu, wǒ tóu téng. — I don't feel well today; my head aches.)
• 他感冒了，还有点儿发烧。 (Tā gǎnmào le, hái yǒu diǎnr fāshāo. — He has caught a cold, and also has a bit of a fever.)
• 医生说我要吃药、多休息。 (Yīshēng shuō wǒ yào chī yào, duō xiūxi. — The doctor says I must take medicine and rest more.)
• 今天天气很好，不冷也不热。 (Jīntiān tiānqì hěn hǎo, bù lěng yě bù rè. — The weather today is lovely, neither cold nor hot.)
• 昨天刮大风，今天晴天。 (Zuótiān guā dà fēng, jīntiān qíngtiān. — Yesterday it was very windy; today it's sunny.)
• 明天的天气怎么样？ (Míngtiān de tiānqì zěnmeyàng? — What will the weather be like tomorrow?)
• 她的眼睛很大，头发很长。 (Tā de yǎnjing hěn dà, tóufa hěn cháng. — Her eyes are big, and her hair is long.)
• 你怎么了？ (Nǐ zěnme le? — What's the matter with you?) — the first question every Chinese doctor and friend will ask.

Building the characters: the sickness radical 疒

The 心 (xīn, heart) radical at the bottom of 感 and 想 (xiǎng, to think/want) tells you the word is about inner states: 感冒 is literally something you *feel* creeping over you. Weather words carry their own logic too: 晴 has 日 (sun), 阴 has 阝 (mound) over 月 (moon), 雨 shows rain falling from a cloud line.

Tone practice: health and weather words

眼睛 versus 眼镜 deserves a drill of its own: yǎn-jing (neutral) versus yǎn-jìng (4th). Mix them up and you have told the optician your *glasses* hurt.

Dialogue: at the clinic

• 医生：你怎么了？ (Yīshēng: Nǐ zěnme le? — Doctor: What's the matter?)
• 病人：我头疼，还有点儿发烧。 (Bìngrén: Wǒ tóu téng, hái yǒu diǎnr fāshāo. — Patient: My head aches, and I have a slight fever.)
• 医生：你感冒了。要多喝水，多休息。 (Yīshēng: Nǐ gǎnmào le. Yào duō hē shuǐ, duō xiūxi. — Doctor: You've caught a cold. Drink more water and rest more.)
• 病人：我要吃药吗？ (Bìngrén: Wǒ yào chī yào ma? — Patient: Do I need to take medicine?)
• 医生：要吃。一天三次，饭后吃。 (Yīshēng: Yào chī. Yì tiān sān cì, fàn hòu chī. — Doctor: Yes. Three times a day, after meals.)
• 病人：谢谢医生！ (Bìngrén: Xièxie yīshēng! — Patient: Thank you, doctor!)

Questions: 1) What are the patient's two symptoms? 2) What is the diagnosis? 3) When should the patient take the medicine?

Answer key: 1) Headache （头疼） and a slight fever （有点儿发烧）. 2) A cold （感冒）. 3) Three times a day, after meals （一天三次，饭后吃）.

Pronunciation notes for this lesson

舒服 (shūfu, comfortable) has a neutral second syllable and a curled sh; its negative 不舒服 is the single most useful health phrase in the language. 医生 (yīshēng) is 1st + 1st — flat and high, no dip. Weather reports on TV use a brisk register: 今天白天晴，夜间多云 — listen for 晴 and 云 as single beats. Northern speakers say 今儿 (jīnr) for 今天 in casual speech; do not be surprised, and do not copy it in exams. Finally, 怎么了 (zěnme le) must sound concerned, not accusing: soften it with a level, gentle tone — in Chinese the *music* of the sentence carries the kindness.

Common mistakes

• Wrong: ~~我很头疼我的头。~~ Right: 我头疼。 — the body part is already the subject; adding both is double.
• Wrong: ~~我有感冒。~~ Right: 我感冒了。 — 感冒 is a verb ("to catch cold"), and the final 了 marks the new state.
• Wrong: ~~今天下雨很大。~~ Right: 今天雨很大。 or 今天下大雨。 — the rain itself is 大， placed before 雨 or after 下 as its object.
• Wrong: reading 药 questions wrongly: 你要药吗？ asks "do you want medicine?" — fine, but for "do I need (must) take medicine?" the clinic phrase is 我要吃药吗？ with 吃 included.

Exam Experience

Reading task. Read the weather-and-health message, then answer.

小美：我今天不舒服，头很疼，还有点儿感冒。妈妈说明天会下雨，天气会很冷。她让我多休息、多喝水，不去学校了。我在家吃药、睡觉。 (Xiǎoměi: Wǒ jīntiān bù shūfu, tóu hěn téng, hái yǒu diǎnr gǎnmào. Māma shuō míngtiān huì xiàyǔ, tiānqì huì hěn lěng. Tā ràng wǒ duō xiūxi, duō hē shuǐ, bù qù xuéxiào le. Wǒ zài jiā chī yào, shuìjiào. — Xiaomei: I don't feel well today, my head really aches, and I have a bit of a cold. Mum says it will rain tomorrow and the weather will be cold. She told me to rest more, drink more water, and not go to school. I'm at home taking medicine and sleeping.)

1) How does Xiaomei feel today? 2) What is tomorrow's weather? 3) What three things does her mother tell her to do or not do?

Key: 1) Unwell — headache and a slight cold. 2) Rainy and cold （会下雨，很冷）. 3) Rest more, drink more water, and not go to school.

Multiple choice.

1) 我牙疼 means… A. My teeth are white B. My tooth aches C. I like teeth D. My teeth are big. Answer: B. Body part + 疼 is the ache pattern. 2) "It will be windy tomorrow" is… A. 明天下雨 B. 明天刮风 C. 明天晴天 D. 明天有风了大. Answer: B. 刮风 is the wind verb; 会 may be added: 明天会刮风. 3) 你怎么了？ is best translated… A. How old are you? B. What's the matter with you? C. Where are you? D. What are you doing? Answer: B. It is the standard opening question for illness or trouble.

Guided writing. Write a note to your teacher (5 sentences): say you are unwell, describe two symptoms, say you are going to see a doctor, mention today's weather, and apologise for missing class. Model answer:

王老师：对不起，我今天不舒服，不能去上课。我头疼，还有点儿发烧。我要去医院看病。今天天气很冷，还刮风。明天我会好一点儿。谢谢您！——小刚 (Wáng lǎoshī: Duìbuqǐ, wǒ jīntiān bù shūfu, bù néng qù shàngkè. Wǒ tóu téng, hái yǒu diǎnr fāshāo. Wǒ yào qù yīyuàn kànbìng. Jīntiān tiānqì hěn lěng, hái guāfēng. Míngtiān wǒ huì hǎo yìdiǎnr. Xièxie nín! — Xiǎogāng — Teacher Wang: Sorry, I don't feel well today and can't come to class. My head aches and I have a slight fever. I'm going to the hospital to see a doctor. Today is cold and windy. I'll be a bit better tomorrow. Thank you! — Xiaogang)

Marking notes: one mark for the 不舒服 opening; one mark for each symptom expressed with the body-part + 疼 or 发烧 pattern; one mark for 看病/医院 used correctly; one mark for a weather sentence with a sky-verb or 冷/热 adjective; one mark for a polite closing. Marks are not deducted for using 您 or 你， but the apology 对不起 must be present for full marks.

Going deeper: the four seasons and the rest of the body

Weather talk needs its year: 季节 (jìjié, season) divides into 春 (chūn, spring), 夏 (xià, summer), 秋 (qiū, autumn) and 冬 (dōng, winter) — each joined with 天 in speech: 春天、夏天、秋天、冬天. The four characters even hold pictures: 春 has the rising sun, 秋 joins grain 禾 with fire 火 (the harvest burned in), 冬 ends the year with ice 冫. Sentences write themselves: 北京的秋天最美，不冷也不热 (Běijīng de qiūtiān zuì měi, bù lěng yě bù rè — Beijing's autumn is the loveliest, neither cold nor hot). For the clinic, add the remaining body words: 牙 (yá, tooth — 我牙疼), 腿 (tuǐ, leg — 他腿疼), 肚子 (dùzi, stomach — 我肚子疼), 嗓子 (sǎngzi, throat — 我嗓子疼) and 背 (bèi, back). With these five, every common ache in a traveller's life can be reported in the same body-part + 疼 frame, and the weather in any month of the year can be your opening sentence.