Una introduction corta de Espanol Medical

A Short Introduction to Medical Spanish

Please note: 1. Phrases in this lecture have been translated directly, thus if it says: “Yo soy Sam” I have translated it as literally as I can to “I am Sam”.2. Cognates are words that are similar sounding in two languages.

“Constipation” does not mean “recipe” in Spanish. Find and hold onto cognates for dear life, they are pearls.

3. Practice phrases first, show an interest in learning, and remember how good it is to hear things in your mother tongue. Spanish people are very liberal in their tolerance of grammatical errors and mis-pronounciations. Any (grammatical) error is already forgiven.

4. Spanish reads as it is written, take a stab at “Yo Soy la enfermera” and chances are you are pronouncing it adequately, if not

correctly. 5. “Despacio”= slowly. Tell your patients to slow down and obscure

phrases become common words.6. This is a work in progress.

Conjugation

Spanish is a language that modifies its verbs to reflect who is doing the action.

The modifications are made at the end of the word.

Conjugation: the concept

There are three types of verbs in Spanish: ones that end in AR, end in ER and end in IR, there are also irregular verbs.

The verb endings are different depending on who is doing the action.

I/ YoYou (relaxed)/ TuHe, She, You formal/ El, Ella, Usted We/ NosotrosYou (plural) You’all/ Ustedes

How AR Verbs are conjugated

Tomar- to take, to drink

I/Yo: tomO You (formal)/Tu: tomAS He/She/You/ El/Ella/Usted: tomA We/ Nosotros: tomAMOS You’all/ Ustedes: tomAN

Conjugation Simplified

For our sake we can simplify the persons so that we primarily use two of the persons

The Yo form, with you meaning I (first person), which if you are the speaker means yourself.

A simple rule of thumb is that Yo rhymes with the verb because as noted above, the conjugation is to take out the ar er or ir ending and add O.

For example: Comer- to eat. When I want to say “I eat” I say Yo comO. Er is removed, o in its place.

Tomar- to drink. When I want to say “I drink” I say: Yo tomO.

Vivir- to live. When I want to say “I live” I say: Yo vivO.

Conjugation Continued (irregular)

Ser- to be (permenantly). When I want to say “I am” I say Yo SOy. This is because Ser is irregular, but notice that the conjugation still keeps the spirit of the conjugation, i.e. it retains the O sound at the end. It should be Yo sO, but because of how it sounds in the language Y is added and it becomes Yo sOy.

Conjugation Simplified

The other useful form besides Yo is the (El/Ella/Usted) form. This basically covers He, She or You. To conjugate you take off the ar, er or ir ending, and add a if it ends in ar, or e if it ends in er or ir. For example:

Hablar- to speak. El hablA- He speaks, Ella hablA- She speaksand Usted hablA- you speak.

Conjugation Simplified

Entender- to understand El entiendE la forma- He understands the

form. Ella entiendE la forma- She understands the

form. Usted etiendE la forma- You understand the

form. Yo entiendO la forma- I understand the form.

Conjugation Simplified Abrir- to open Yo abrO la puerta- I open the door. El abrE la puerta- He opens the door. Ella abrE la puerta- She opens the door. Usted abrE la puerta- You open the door.

If you’ve mastered these two conjugations (the O ending and the E/A ending) you can talk about most issues pretty fluently.

Power Verbs

Necesitar- to need

Ir- to go to

Tener- to have

Hacer- to do

Poder- to be able to

Ser- to be

Power Verbs: Enpowered

Necesitar- to need

I/Yo necesitO

He/She/You /El/Ella/Usted necesitA

Que medicina (Usted) necesita tomar?

What medicine (You) need to take?

Necesito examinar su abdomen.

I need to examine your abdomen.

Power Verbs are often irregular, in this instance, you must remember how they are conjugated

Ser- to be (permenantly) Soy- I am Es- he/she/you are Ir- to go Voy- I go Va- he/she/you go Poder- to be able to Puedo- I am able to Puede- he/she/you are able to

Ir

Ir that means to go can be a rudimentary proxy for a future tense. Thus

Voy a caminar.- I am going to walk. Voy a examinar el. -I am going to examine him. Notice that you do not have to conjugate the key

verb, you just need to remember that: Voy is for Yo,

and Va is for el/ ella/ Usted.

Conversational Pearls

Hola- Hello Soy el doctor/la doctora- I am the doctor. Me nombre es Doctor Cook- My name is Dr Cook. Voy a traer el telefono por el translator- I am going

to bring the phone for the translator Necesita el translator o Usted puede hablar en

ingles?- (Do) You need the translator or (are) you able to speak in english?

Nesecito examinar Usted- I need to examine you. Hablo espanol un pequito- I speak spanish a little.

The questions words

Quien- who Que- what Cuando- when Donde- where Como- how Por que- why Cuantas- how many Si- Yes and No- No

Questions/ Preguntas

Questions in Spanish are just a matter of vocal inflection, raise the tone at the end of the phrase like in English and a statement of fact becomes a question.

El toma medication.- He takes medication

El toma medication?- Does he take medication?

The previous words are needed to guide the question. The vocal inflection just indicates that you are questioning whether what is being said is true.

El es bueno- He is good, El es bueno?- He is good? Como el es bueno?- How is he good?Some additional detail is being sought.

Commands are all in the tone

In like manner to say something can be a way of commanding that it be done. Usted levanta!- You get up!

Or likewise, Yo examino usted- I examine you.

Medical Verbs Abrir- to open Acostar se- to lie down Amputar- amputate Andar- to walk Apagar- to shut off Apretar- to squeeze Aprender- to learn Assistir- to attend Attender- to assist Ayudar- to help Bajar- to lower Buscar- to look for Caer- to fall Cambiar- to change Caminar- to walk Consultar- to consult Cerrar- to close Circular- to circulate Cocinar- to cook Comer- to eat Comprar- to buy Congelar- to freeze Contagiar- to infect Contaminar- to contaminate Cortar- to cut Crecer- to increase, to grow Cubrir- to covor Curar- to cure Danar- to damage Dar- to give Decir- to say Defecar- to defecate Deletrear- to spell Descansar- to rest Decrecer- to decrease, to shrink Desear- to desire Desinfectar- to disinfect

Doler- to hurtDormir- to sleepEmbarzar se- to become pregnantEncender- to turn onEncontrar- to findEscupar- to spitEscuchar- to listenEmpujar- to push againstEnfermar se- to get sickEntrar- to enterEnyesar- to put a cast on, 鍍 o cast�Estar- to be (temporarily)Esterilizar- to sterilizeEvitar- to avoidExaminar- to examineExhalar- to exhaleFirmar- to signFumar- to smokeGastar- to wasteGolpear- to hit, to strikeGuardar- to protect, to guardHablar- to speakHacer- to doIndicar- to indicateInfectar- to infectInhalar- to inhaleIngresar- to admitImmunizar- to immunizeInyectar- to injectIr- to goJalar- to pushLastimar- to hurtLavar- to washLevantar- to get up Levanter- to lift Limpiar- to cleanLlamar- to callLlevar- to carryManejar- to drive

Masticar- to chewMedir- to measureMirar- to lookMojar- to wetMorir- to dieMover- to moveNecesitar- to needObservar- to observeOir- to hearOperar- to operateOrinar- to urinatePasar- to happenPensar- to thinkPerder- to losePesar- to weighPoder- to be able to Poner- to put, to placePreguntar- to questionPreparar- to prepareQuedar- to remainQuemar- to burnQuitar- to removeRecetar- to prescribeRegresar- to returnRespirar- to breathSaber- to knowSacar- to take (like to take an x ray)Salir- to leaveSentar se- to sitSentir se- to feelSeguir- to followSecar- to drySangrar- to bleedSer- to be (permenantly)Sufrir- to sufferTener- to haveTerminar- to end

Tocar- to touchTomar- to drink, to consumeTorcer- to twistToser- to coughTrabajar- to workTraer- to bringTragar- to swallowUsar- to useVenir- to comeVendir- to sellVestir se- to dressVir- to seeVolver- to returnVomitar- to vomitVisitar- to visit

Vocabulary-body parts Abdomen- el abdomen Arm- el brazo Artery- la arteria Back- la espalda Bladder- la vejiga Bone- el hueso Bottom- las nalgas Breast- la mamma Chest- el pecho Ear- el oido Esophagus- el esophago Eye- el ojo Face- la cara Foot- el pie Finger- el dedo Forearm- el antebrazo Gall bladder- la vesicular biliar Genetalia- la genitalia Hair- el pello Hand- el mano Head- la cabeza Heart- el corazon Heel- el talon Joint- la articulation Kidney- el rinon Knee- la rodilla Large Intestine- el intestino grueso Leg- la pierna Liver- el higado Lung- el pulmon Mouth- la boca Neck- el cuello Nerve- el nervio

Nose- la narizOvary- el ovarioPelvis- la pelvisPenis- el peneRectum- el rectoShoulder- el hombroSkin- el pielSmall Intestine- el intestino delgado Stomach- el estomagoTeeth- los dientesThroat- la gargantaTongue- la lenguaTrachea- la tracheaToe- el dedo de pieUreter- el ureterUrethra- la urethraVein- la venaWrist- la muneca

Case You are on a hike in Fairmount Park, climbing one of the small hills

when half way up you come upon an elderly couple, the man is lying upon the ground and the woman looks distressed. She is speaking in Spanish and you notice that your cell phone does not have any reception. What key pieces of information would you like to have regarding the man’s health? What Spanish phrases would you like to know?

EMERGENCY PHRASES Usted tiene falta de aire?- (Do) you have difficulty breathing (fault of air)? Usted tiene problemas de salud?- Do you has problem of health? Que son los problemas de salud para el?- What are the problems of health

with him? El tiene allergias?- He have allergies? Usted tiene dolor?- You have pain? Usted tiene dolor de pecho?- You have chest pain? Donde esta el dolor?- Where is the pain? Con que dura el tiene este problema? - With what duration he has this

problem ? (how long?) Soy el doctor- I am the doctor Voy a ayudar Usted- I am going to help you. Va a acostar- You are going to lie down. Si / No- Yes / No Haga Eso- do this

When you are self sufficient…

Que es la palabra en espanol para este?- What is the word in spanish for this?

Then the learning begins

Referencias Joanna Rios Ph.D. and Jose Fernandez Torres (2004). McGraw-Hill’s Complete Medical Spanish. New York:

McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Robert O Chase and Clarisa Medina de Chase (2003). An Introduction to Spanish for Health Care Workers. New

Haven: Yale University Press