Seeing the doctor in cantonese

Today I want to chat a little about seeing a doctor in Cantonese. Of course, when you go to the doctors in Hong Kong, I would be surprised if the Doctor 醫生 (Dummy PY: Yee Sung) doesn’t know English. You might want to double check if this doctor醫生 (Dummy PY: Yee Sung) is legit. 醫生 (Dummy PY: Yee Sung) means Doctor. 醫(Dummy PY: Yee) means to heal, cure or treat, and 生 (Dummy PY: Yee Sung) here means the candidate or the person, so basically 醫生 (Dummy PY: Yee Sung) in direct translation would be the healer or the treater. Unless of course, the Doctor is a Chinese medicine practitioner, that’s of course a different story. A Chinese medicine practitioner in cantonese is 中醫(Dummy PY: Chong Yee)literally Chinese doctor. The only challenge going to the doctor醫生 (Dummy PY: Yee Sung) might simply be the Hong Kong accent, but of course if you are already learning Cantonese, you might be familiar with the Cantonese English accent already. But there might come a time when you are actually confident enough with your Cantonese, you might want to try speaking it with your Doctor醫生 (Dummy PY: Yee Sung), or it can be as simple as talking to your Cantonese friend about your illness.

When you want to say you are feeling unwell, in Cantonese it is 我覺得唔舒服(Dummy PY: Ngo Gok Duck Um Shue Fook)。我覺得 (Dummy PY: Ngo Gok Duck) means I feel. 唔舒服 (Dummy PY: Um Shue Fook) is unwell. When you want to say, I am sick, you will say, 我病 (Dummy PY: Ngo Bang) 病(Dummy PY: Bang) means sick, or sickness or illness. Let’s talk about some common symptoms 症狀 (Dummy PY: Jing Jong). Cough is 咳 (Dummy PY: Cut), so you can imagine yourself coughing and making the 咳(Dummy PY: cut) sound, same sound as the word cut, like when you cut with a knife. Sore throat is喉嚨痛 (Dummy PY: How Long Tung), 喉嚨 (Dummy PY: How long) means throat, and 痛(Dummy PY: Tung) means pain or sore. Sneezing is 打乞嗤 (Dummy py: Da Hut Chee) 打 (Dummy py: Da) means hit, like you are hitting someone, and 乞嗤 (Dummy py: Hut Chee) is the sound of the sneeze, like in English is Ah-choo, and in Cantonese is 乞嗤 (Dummy py: Hut Chee). Runny nose is 流鼻水(Dummy PY: Lau Bae Shui) 流 (Dummy PY: Lau) describes the running of liquids, 鼻 (Dummy PY: Bae)means nose, 水 (Dummy PY: Shui) is water. 流鼻水 (Dummy PY: Lau Bae Shui) literally is running nose water, therefore runny nose. Stuffy nose is 鼻塞(Dummy PY: Bae Suck). 鼻(Dummy PY: Bae) means nose like I said, 塞(Dummy PY: Suck) means like a jam. So for example, 塞車(Dummy PY: Suck Chair) means traffic jam, since 車(Dummy PY: Chair) means cars. So 鼻塞(Dummy PY: Bae Suck) means literally a nose jam, so stuffy nose. Fever is 發燒(Dummy PY: Fat Shoe), 燒(Dummy PY: Shoe) means burn. And on the other hand having chills is 發冷 (Dummy PY: Fat Larng), 冷 (Dummy PY: Larng) is the formal way of saying cold, and the casual Cantonese for cold is 凍 (Dummy PY: Dung). But you cannot say 發凍 it won’t make sense. Throwing up is 嘔 (Dummy PY: Ngau), this word is also hard to pronounce. Some sound as the word Beef 牛(Dummy PY: Ngau). Just slightly different tone, don’t confuse them. Nausea is 作嘔作悶(Dummy PY: Jog Ngau Jog Moon), 嘔 (Dummy PY: Ngau) like I explained is vomiting and 悶(Dummy PY: Moon) can mean bored or stuff, and here it means stuffy. Headache is 頭痛 (Dummy PY: Tao Tung), 痛(Dummy PY: Tung) means pain or sore, and 頭 (Dummy PY: Tao) means head. Now once you know 痛(Dummy PY: Tung) pain or sore, you can basically switch out the body part and replace it with the body parts where you are experiencing pain. For example, stomach is 胃 (Dummy PY: Why) so stomachache 胃痛 (Dummy PY: Why Tung), Belly is 肚(Dummy PY: Told) So tummy ache is 肚痛 (Dummy PY: Told Tung). Hand and arm is 手(Dummy PY: Sao) so arm/ hand pain is 手痛(Dummy PY: Sao Tung). Feet and Leg is腳(Dummy PY: Gurk) so feet and leg pain is 腳痛 (Dummy PY: Gurk Tung). Finally tooth or teeth is 牙(Dummy PY: Nga), So toothache is 牙痛(Dummy PY: Nga Tung).

Brilliant! I think now you know enough basics to start.

Below is a completely made up scenario. A senior 老人家(Dummy PY: Low Yan Ga) arrives at the Emergency room 急症室(Dummy PY: Gup Jing Sutt) at the hospital 醫院(Dummy PY: Yee Yun). Before she gets in, the triage nurse 護士 (Dummy PY: Woo See) screens her for Covid- 19 first.

N: 你有冇咳？

S: 冇。

N: 發燒？ 發冷？

S: 冇

N: 喉嚨痛？

S: 冇

N: 流鼻水，鼻塞？

S: 冇

N: 有冇嘔或者作嘔作悶啊？

S: 冇。

N: 有冇頭痛？

S: 冇。

Let’s pause here for a second. So far all these words and symptoms you should already know. Let’s listen to the English version for a second just to recap.

N: Do you have any coughs?

S: no.

N: Fever? Chills?

S: No.

N: Sore throat?

S: No.

N: Runny nose or stuffy nose?

S: No. N: Any nausea or vomiting?

S: No.

N: Any headaches?

S: No.

OK, pretty good. Let’s continue on with the screening questions.

N; 有冇覺得無胃口啊？

S: 有。而家老咗食好少啦。

N: Do you have any loss of appetite?

S: yes, now that I am old. I eat a lot less.

胃口(Dummy PY: Why How) stomach is 胃 (Dummy PY: Why), 口(Dummy PY: How) is mouth. When you put stomach and mouth together makes 胃口(Dummy PY: Why How) meaning appetite. 無胃口(Dummy PY: Mo Why How) means no appetite. 老 (Dummy PY: Low) means old.

N: 肌肉同埋關節有冇痛？

S: 有啊，咁老成日都周身痛㗎啦。

N: Muscles and joints any pain?

S: Yea. I am so old so I always have pain everywhere.

肌肉 (Dummy PY: Gay Yuk) means muscles. 關節 (Dummy PY: Guan Geet) means Joints. 痛(Dummy PY: Tung) means pain or sore. So you can say 肌肉痛(Dummy PY: Gay Yuk Tung) for muscle pain and 關節痛(Dummy PY: Guan Geet Tung) for joint pain. Then the senior said 周身痛 (Dummy PY: Jow Sun Tung). 身(Dummy PY: Sun) is short for 身體(Dummy PY: Sun Tie) meaning body. For 周身痛 (Dummy PY: Jow Sun Tung) it means the entire body is in pain.

N: 有冇覺得好攰？

S: 有，成日都好攰。

N: Feel any tiredness or fatigue?

S: Yea, I am very tired all the time.

攰(Dummy PY: Gu-ee) means tired. So the senior is saying 成日(Dummy PY: Seng Yat) meaning all day.

N: 有冇覺得氣促或者呼吸困難？

S: 有陣時行快兩步都會覺得氣促㗎。

N: Do you feel any shortness of breath or trouble breathing?

S: Sometimes when I walk a little quicker I feel shortness of breath.

This one is a little harder. First 氣促(Dummy PY: Hey Chuk) means shortness of breath. 氣(Dummy PY: Hey) means the Chinese concept Chi or breath, here it means breath. 促(Dummy PY: Chuk) means quick or quickened. So shortness of breath is 氣促(Dummy PY: Hey Chuk). 呼吸困難(Dummy PY: Fu Cup Kwun Naan) means trouble breathing. 呼吸 (Dummy PY: Fu Cup)means respiration or breathing. 困難(Dummy PY: Kwun Naan) means difficulty or trouble. 有陣時 (Dummy PY: Yau Gen See) means sometimes.

N: 有冇覺得冇咗味覺或者嗅覺？

S: 冇。

N: Any loss of taste or smell?

S: No.

味覺(Dummy PY: May Gok) means taste. 味(Dummy PY: May) means taste, 覺(Dummy PY: Gok) means the sensation. So the sensation to taste is 味覺(Dummy PY: May Gok). 嗅覺 (Dummy PY: Chow Gok) means smell. 嗅 (Dummy PY: Chow) is the formal way of saying smell. It has the same sound as the word smelly or something that smells bad 臭 (Dummy PY: Chow). Not the same word but the same sound, perhaps you can remember like that.

N: 你喺過去兩個星期，有冇離開過香港？

S: 冇，一日到黑都留喺屋企㗎啦。

N: In the past 2 weeks, did you leave Hong Kong?

S: No. I stay at home day in and day out.

過去 (Dummy PY: Guo Hui) means in the past. 星期(Dummy PY: Sing Kay) means weeks. 兩(Dummy PY: Leung) means two. So 兩個星期 means two weeks. 離開 (Dummy PY: Lei Hoy) means leave. Then the senior said 一日到黑(Dummy PY: Yat Yat Dou Hack) meaning a day till night, so meaning all day. 屋企 (Dummy PY: Uk Kay) means home.

N: 咁過去嘅兩個星期入邊，你有冇同冠狀病毒確診者有密切接觸啊？

S: 吓，我都唔知喎。

N: In the past 2 weeks, did you have any close contact with any Covid positive individuals?

S: Huh? I have no idea.

冠狀病毒(Dummy PY: Goon Jong Bang Duk) means Covid 19 or coronavirus. Back in January in the coronavirus episode, I have talked about this term. 確診者 (Dummy PY: Cock Chen Je) means confirmed positive person. 確診(Dummy PY: Cock Chen) means diagnosed. 者 (Dummy PY: Je) is another way of saying individual.

N: 好, 你坐一陣先，醫生好快見你。

S: 哦。

N: OK, sit here for a while. The Doctor will see you soon.

S: Oh Ok.

哦 (Dummy PY: Ngo) is just a sound made for acknowledgement. Awesome. Now then the senior is finally being seen by the doctor, completely made up scenario again.

D: 你覺得邊度唔舒服？做咩嚟咗急症室？

S: 我頭先去買餸行行吓，覺得個頭好暈，條氣好促，跟住個心口痛。

D: Where are you feeling unwell? Why did you come to the emergency room?

S: Just now I was going grocery shopping, as I was walking, I felt very dizzy, the breath has quickened, then my chest hurts.

Remember 唔舒服 (Dummy PY: Um Shue Fook) is unwell. Emergency room is 急症室(Dummy PY: Gup Jing Sutt). Senior was saying 頭先(Dummy PY: Tao Seen) meaning just now. 買餸 (Dummy PY: My Sung) is buying groceries. 行 (Dummy PY: Harng) means walk. 頭(Dummy PY: Tao) means head, 暈(Dummy PY: Won) means dizzy. So together 頭暈(Dummy PY: Tao Won) means dizziness in the head, so dizzy. 氣促(Dummy PY: Hey Chuk) I mentioned earlier means shortness of breath. 氣(Dummy PY: Hey) means breath. 促(Dummy PY: Chuk) means quick or quickened. So shortness of breath is 氣促(Dummy PY: Hey Chuk). Finally the senior said 心口痛 (Dummy PY: Some How Tung). 心 (Dummy PY: Some) means heart, 口(Dummy PY: How) is mouth. Together 心口(Dummy PY: Some How) sounds like somehow in English, means chest. So 心口痛 (Dummy PY: Some How Tung) means chest pain.

D: 你本身有冇任何肺部疾病或者係心臟病㗎？

S: 冇，但係我有高血壓，醫生開藥俾我食緊。

D: Do you have any pre-existing lung disease or heart disease?

S: No. But I have high blood pressure, the doctor prescribed me medications to take.

本身(Dummy PY: Boon Sun) means originally. 本(Dummy PY: Boon) means the core or original. 身(Dummy PY: Sun) is short for 身體(Dummy PY: Sun Tie) meaning body. So 本身(Dummy PY: Boon Sun) means originally. 肺 (Dummy PY: Fai) means lungs. 肺部(Dummy PY Fai Bo) means Lung parts. 疾病 (Dummy PY: Jut Bang) means disease. 病(Dummy PY: Bang) means sick, or sickness or illness. 心臟病 (Dummy PY: Some Chong Bang) means Heart disease. 心臟(Dummy PY: Sum Chong) is long for 心 (Dummy PY: Some) meaning heart. 心臟(Dummy PY: Sum Chong) is used when referring to the organ, usually only used in medical terminology. For the most part we will simply say 心 (Dummy PY: Some). 高血壓 (Dummy PY: Go Huet Ngaat) means high blood pressure. 高(Dummy PY: Go) sounds like the english word “Go”, means high or tall. 血 (Dummy PY: Huet) means blood and 壓 (Dummy PY: Ngaat)is short for 壓力 (Dummy PY: Ngaat Lick) meaning stress or pressure. So if you have low blood pressure, you will say 低血壓 (Dummy PY: Die Huet Ngaat). 低 (Dummy PY: Die) means low. Finally 藥(dummy PY Yeuk) means medicine.

D: 好。有冇糖尿病呀？

S: 冇。

D: OK. Do you have diabetes?

S: No.

糖尿病 (Dummy PY: Tong Lew Bang) 糖 (Dummy PY: Tong) means sugar, 尿 (Dummy PY: Lew) means urine or pee. 病(Dummy PY: Bang) again means sick, or sickness or illness. Quite literal. So patients with diabetes will sometimes have sugars in their urine, not going to go into medical stuff I am not a doctor. But you can certainly remember it as the sugar urine illness糖尿病 (Dummy PY: Tong Lew Bang).

D: 好。俾我聽下你個心同埋肺啊。

S: 哦。

D: Good. Let me have a listen to your heart and lungs.

S: Oh OK.

聽(Dummy PY: Tang) means listen or hear. Again, 心 (Dummy PY: Some) means heart. 肺 (Dummy PY: Fai) means lungs.

D: 你條氣聽落唔係好順，而家安排你入院，做吓啲檢查。

S: 哦。咁我幾時可以返屋企呀？嚴唔嚴重丫？

D: 我哋未知住，做咗檢查先啦。

D: Your breath doesn’t sound very smooth. Now I will arrange for you to be admitted, and do some check ups.

S: Oh OK. Then when can I go home? Is it serious? D

: We don’t know yet, let’s do some check ups first.

氣(Dummy PY: Hey) means breath. 順 (Dummy PY: Shun) means smooth. 入院 (Dummy PY: Yup Yun) means to be admitted to the hospital. 檢查(Dummy PY: Geem Cha) means check up or check. 嚴重(Dummy PY: Yeem Chong) means serious.

Excellent. This is a lot of info. Thanks for staying with me until the end. I hope you got a lot out of this episode. Let’s practice some vocab today.

Doctor - 醫生 (Dummy PY: Yee Sung)

Chinese Medical Doctor - 中醫(Dummy PY: Chong Yee)

Emergency room - 急症室(Dummy PY: Gup Jing Sutt)

Hospital - 醫院(Dummy PY: Yee Yun)

Nurse - 護士 (Dummy PY: Woo See)

Medicine - 藥(dummy PY Yeuk)

I feel unwell - 我覺得唔舒服(Dummy PY: Ngo Gok Duck Um Shue Fook)

Unwell - 唔舒服 (Dummy PY: Um Shue Fook)

I am sick - 我病 (Dummy PY: Ngo Bang)

Sick/ sickness - 病(Dummy PY: Bang)

Disease - 疾病 (Dummy PY: Jut Bang)

Heart - 心臟(Dummy PY: Sum Chong)

Heart disease - 心臟病 (Dummy PY: Some Chong Bang)

Sugar - 糖 (Dummy PY: Tong)

Urine - 尿 (Dummy PY: Lew)

Diabetes - 糖尿病 (Dummy PY: Tong Lew Bang)

Covid 19 - 冠狀病毒(Dummy PY: Goon Jong Bang Duk)

Symptoms - 症狀 (Dummy PY: Jing Jong)

Cough - 咳 (Dummy PY: Cut)

Sneeze - 打乞嗤 (Dummy py: Da Hut Chee)

Nose - 鼻(Dummy PY: Bae)

Runny Nose - 流鼻水(Dummy PY: Lau Bae Shui)

Stuffy nose - 鼻塞(Dummy PY: Bae Suck)

Fever - 發燒(Dummy PY: Fat Shoe)

Chills - 發冷 (Dummy PY: Fat Larng)

Vomiting - 嘔 (Dummy PY: Ngau)

Nausea - 作嘔作悶(Dummy PY: Jog Ngau Jog Moon)

Dizziness - 頭暈(Dummy PY: Tao Won)

Shortness of breath - 氣促(Dummy PY: Hey Chuk)

Breath - 氣(Dummy PY: Hey)

Respiration / breathing - 呼吸 (Dummy PY: Fu Cup)

Difficulty/ Trouble - 困難(Dummy PY: Kwun Naan)

Trouble breathing - 呼吸困難(Dummy PY: Fu Cup Kwun Naan)

Sensation of Taste - 味覺(Dummy PY: May Gok)

Sensation of smell - 嗅覺 (Dummy PY: Chow Gok)

Heart - 心 (Dummy PY: Some)

Blood - 血 (Dummy PY: Huet)

Blood Pressure - 血壓 (Dummy PY: Die Huet Ngaat)

High Blood Pressure - 高血壓 (Dummy PY: Go Huet Ngaat)

Low Blood Pressure - 低血壓 (Dummy PY: Die Huet Ngaat)

Appetite - 胃口(Dummy PY: Mo Why How)

No appetite - 無胃口(Dummy PY: Mo Why How)

Pain/ hurt - 痛(Dummy PY: Tung)

Throat - 喉嚨 (Dummy PY: How long)

Sore throat - 喉嚨痛 (Dummy PY: How Long Tung)

Head - 頭 (Dummy PY: Tao)

Headache - 頭痛 (Dummy PY: Tao Tung)

Stomach - 胃 (Dummy PY: Why)

Stomachache - 胃痛 (Dummy PY: Why Tung)

Tummy - 肚(Dummy PY: Told)

Tummy ache - 肚痛 (Dummy PY: Told Tung)

Hands or arms - 手(Dummy PY: Sao)

Hand or arm pain - 手痛(Dummy PY: Sao Tung)

Feet or legs - 腳(Dummy PY: Gurk)

Foot or leg pain - 腳痛 (Dummy PY: Gurk Tung)

Tooth/ teeth - 牙(Dummy PY: Nga)

Toothache - 牙痛(Dummy PY: Nga Tung)

Mouth - 口(Dummy PY: How)

Joints - 關節 (Dummy PY: Guan Geet)

Joint pain - 關節痛(Dummy PY: Guan Geet Tung)

Muscle - 肌肉 (Dummy PY: Gay Yuk)

Muscle pain - 肌肉痛(Dummy PY: Gay Yuk Tung)

Chest pain - 心口痛 (Dummy PY: Some How Tung)

Pain everywhere - 周身痛 (Dummy PY: Jow Sun Tung)

Tiredness or fatigue - 攰(Dummy PY: Gu-ee)

Body - 身體(Dummy PY: Sun Tie)

Lungs - 肺 (Dummy PY: Fai)

Lung parts - 肺部(Dummy PY Fai Bo)

Leave - 離開 (Dummy PY: Lei Hoy)

All day till night - 一日到黑(Dummy PY: Yat Yat Dou Hack)

Always/ Whole day - 成日(Dummy PY: Seng Yat)

Just now - 頭先(Dummy PY: Tao Seen)

Sometimes - 有陣時 (Dummy PY: Yau Gen See)

Week - 星期(Dummy PY: Sing Kay)

In the past - 過去 (Dummy PY: Guo Hui)

Home - 屋企 (Dummy PY: Uk Kay)

Old people - 老人家(Dummy PY: Low Yan Ga)

Diagnosed - 確診(Dummy PY: Cock Chen)

Diagnosed person - 確診者 (Dummy PY: Cock Chen Je)

Buying groceries - 買餸 (Dummy PY: My Sung)

Originally - 本身(Dummy PY: Boon Sun)

Smooth - 順 (Dummy PY: Shun)

Admitted to hospital - 入院 (Dummy PY: Yup Yun)

Check up - 檢查(Dummy PY: Geem Cha)

Traffic Jam - 塞車(Dummy PY: Suck Chair)

Serious - 嚴重(Dummy PY: Yeem Chong)