41 New Ways to Talk about Feeling Sick in English
Where I live it’s flu season right now, which means a period of time when many people get sick or come down with the flu. In fact, this year, it’s nearly an epidemic! Everyone’s talking about it. So, how should you talk about feeling sick in English if you don’t feel well?
Of course, when you have a cold or have the flu you probably don’t want to go to work. That means you’ll need to call your boss and tell them what’s going on.
Or perhaps a friend calls and asks how you’re doing. All you want to talk about is how bad you feel.
If it’s really bad, you might even need to visit a doctor to get medical help. And that means you’ll need to explain your symptoms.
So how do you do that in English? In today’s Confident English lesson, I’m going to tell you how.
This lesson has a lot of new vocabulary and expressions. To get the most from this lesson, be sure to watch the video but I’ve also shared the new vocabulary below the video.
Find out exactly what to say when you’re sick.
Lesson by Annemarie
Talking about Feeling Sick in English
Common symptoms of the cold and the flu include:
- To have a runny nose
- To have a stuffy nose
- To have the sniffles
- To have a scratchy or itchy throat
- To have a sore throat
- To have a cough
- To sneeze
More serious symptoms include:
- To have a headache
- To have body aches
- To have a backache
- To have a fever or temperature
- To feel dizzy
You might also have the stomach flu or a stomach bug, which includes feeling nauseous (or to have an upset stomach) and vomiting. When someone is vomiting a lot – whether due to the stomach flu or because they had food poisoning – we say they can’t keep or hold anything down.
Or you may have diarrhea, which is when you need to go to the bathroom, like right now! Informally, we also say to have the runs.
Now there’s just one more thing to talk about and this is when you have an allergic reaction to something. Perhaps you already are allergic to something like bees or peanuts. To be allergic to something or to have an allergy means you must avoid contact with that thing.
Common allergic reactions include:
- To get, to develop, or to have a rash
- To get hives
- To sneeze a lot
- To get or to have itchy or watery eyes
If you need to call into work to let your boss know that you’re staying home for the day, you might say:
- I’ve come down with the flu.
- I’m not feeling well. I’ve got the flu.
- I’m not well and I need to visit the doctor today.
- I’ve got a serious cold/flu.
Depending on your work, your boss may require a doctor’s note.
If your friend calls, you might be a bit more informal to talk about how bad you feel. For example:
- I’m as sick as a dog. (This means really sick)
- I hurt all over.
- I feel like crap.
Now you have 41 different ways to help you talk about feeling sick English!
In order to learn and remember these new words and expressions, it’s important to immediately practice. So I’d like you to answer the question below:
- When was the last time you were sick and what were your symptoms?
The best place to share, learn from the community, and get feedback from me is in the comments section at the end of the lesson.
Have a great (and healthy) week!
~Annemarie
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I really enjoyed reading your blog. It’s evident that you put a lot of effort into researching and writing this article.
Hi Annie, had ever come down with the flu. I called the office officer in charge telling him i need to see doctor. The doctor verified and issued a medical certificate for me plus tablet and tonic . I was really unfit to work. I didn’t consume any tablet and tonic that i had. What I require the most is just the medical certificate as a prove to my supervisor. Through of my experience when I have comedown with the flu I will drink a coconut fruit water as substitution of doctor’s discriptions medicine. (I am not an English speaker,… Read more »
ok
Hi Anni
Recently , I Have been Feeling like a crap , i have got the flu , and the sore throath is really killing me , im not well and im going to visit the doctor today , i hope i would be recover for mi soccer game , send me god vibes !!
with love JV
Oh my! Well, you had great examples to talk about feeling sick but that sounds pretty awful. If you’re really sick, I hope you feel better soon. 🙂
Hello Annemarie
I have been in a cold for 3 days, I have a runny nose but fortunately neither having a headache nor my body aches me, I am sneezing a lot and consuming too much tissues. In addition, I have a sore throat. I wish I would recover soon.
Hi Bilal, Great job! I love when you say ‘I am sneezing a lot’ and ‘In addition, I have a sore throat’, great language! When we talk about a cold we use the verb have, so you could say – I have had a cold for 3 days (this is present perfect used with the past participle of ‘have). Sounds like you are using a lot of tissues! In this case we would say – too many tissues, because tissues is plural. We use ‘too much’ for uncountable nouns, such as – too much rice, too much time. We sure… Read more »
Hi Anne Marie
last August in the middle of summer, I had got the flu for a week. I hadn’t temperature but i had headache and all my body hurts.
My throat was scratcy and itchy and I couldn’t speack.
After six days I started felling well.
thank you Anne Marie for your lesson
i get sick very often. the last time i got sick, i had a severe hdache and i felt nauseous. my bodytemperature was so high that i can’t even open my eyes.
Hi Annemarie.
I have had a mild cold for a few days and a headache. Felt really terrible and my voice changed since then.
Hi Anna Marie. Thank you for sharing with us. That is very useful for me now because I have the flu now . I did not know how it passed on me. I was sneezing more and I had stuffy nose but today I am feeling good. I took a tablet in two days but I prefer to drink home remedy like a hot honey tea…… instead of taking tablet.
Wonderful lesson. exactly how I feel at the moment. I came down with this nasty flu and feeling so miserable with running nose and aching body I had a fever, headache and chest pain in the last couple of days but I managed to see the doctor and drink lots of fluid and paracetamols which helped reduce my temperature and headache.
Hi Olive,
Great job with the language in this, Olive, although I’m sorry to know you’ve been sick. I do hope you’re feeling better! 🙂
Annemarie, your lessons are great, I love your voice. Right now, I think I am sick. I have stomach pain. It can be said “I can’t keep anything down”. I have taken some medicine. I hope it’s going better. I am stuck in a bed and your lesson help to relieve my pain. Thank so mụch.
Hi Selena,
Thanks so much for the kind comments! I’m thrilled my lessons are useful to you.
Great job using some of the language from this lesson and I do hope you’re feeling better!! 🙂
The symptoms are always headache and Sore throat so I stay at home for several days
The last time I was seek was last december 2017. I got the flu and I felt sick as a dog!.
I had watery eyes, headache, sore throat and a very runny nose. It was very annying and I felt like a crap, so I decided to stay at home for some days until a recovered completely.
Great use of the idiom ‘to be as sick as a dog’ and the vocabulary in this lesson, Nay.
I was sick last in 2007….due to headache.
That was a long time ago, George! How lucky that you haven’t been sick since 2007.
I used to have this symptoms in winter but after taking some medecin susch as antibiotic i became in good fit
Manga,
Thanks for the comment. Do you mean that after medication you’re now in good shape? To be in good shape means to be in a good position or to be healthy.
Usually I have a strong immune system which helps me not to catch a flu or cold easy. Last time I felt not well was a year ago when I had stomach flu. At that time I totally lost my appetite and I couldn’t keep anything down because of a repeated vomiting.i needed to Take a medicine , drink a lot of (fluids n for sure rest.
Kerren,
Luck you to have a strong immune system! And great work with the vocabulary in this lesson.
Two weeks ago I came down with the flu. I felt terrible. I felt nauseous, dizzy and had an upset stomach, also I sneezed a lot and had a sore throat with a little fever.
On no! That sounds terrible. I hope you’re feeling much better. Great use of the vocabulary in the lesson.
Last month ,I had a sore throat and all my body hurt
Hopefully, you’re feeling much better now, Reem!
I hurt all over.
I’m sorry to hear that. I hope you get some time to rest and recover.
At this moment I am not well, I am as sick as a dog.
Great use of the expression but I am sorry to hear you’re not well, Aissatou.
My last symptom was fever on last month.
Hi Stella,
I hope you didn’t have a fever for long! It always feels so terrible.