Talking About a Headache | Learn Spanish in English

Spanish lesson set in a contemporary Madrid everyday setting: At home, one adult has a slight headache while another offers water and a quiet place to rest..

EN → ES / Level: A1

About This Lesson

Use Talking About a Headache to practice Spanish conversation, pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and quizzes.

Dialogue

A

Tengo un ligero dolor de cabeza.

TEHN-goh oon lee-HEH-roh doh-LOR deh kah-BEH-sah I have a slight headache.
B

Siéntate un minuto y descansa los ojos.

SYEN-tah-teh oon mee-NOO-toh ee deh-SKAN-sah lohs OH-hohs Sit down for a minute and rest your eyes.
A

¿Podrías traerme un poco de agua?

poh-DREE-ahs trah-EHR-meh oon POH-koh deh AH-gwah Could you bring me some water?
B

Toma, bébela despacio.

TOH-mah BEH-beh-lah dehs-PAH-syoh Here, sip it slowly.
A

También me siento un poco cansado.

tahm-BYEN meh SYEN-toh oon POH-koh kahn-SAH-doh I feel a little tired too.
B

Puedes acostarte en esta habitación tranquila.

PWEH-dehs ah-kohs-TAR-teh ehn EHS-tah ah-bee-tah-SYON trahn-KEE-lah You can lie down in this quiet room.
A

Espero sentirme mejor pronto.

ehs-PEH-roh sehn-TEER-meh meh-HOR PROHN-toh I hope I feel better soon.
B

Quédate aquí y llámame si necesitas algo.

KEH-dah-teh ah-KEE ee YAH-mah-meh see neh-seh-SEE-tahs AHL-goh Stay here, and call me if you need anything.

Word by Word

Tengo Tengo means “I have” in Tengo un ligero dolor de cabeza, describing the speaker’s condition. A reusable pattern is Tengo + a thing or condition when saying what you have or are experiencing; you could use it when describing a symptom.
un Un introduces the singular item in un ligero dolor de cabeza, meaning “a” in this sentence. It is used before a singular noun, as in un + noun, when describing one thing; this is useful when mentioning one symptom or object.
ligero Ligero means “slight” or “mild” here and describes the dolor as not strong. In this use it comes before the noun in ligero dolor, a useful pattern when describing mild discomfort to another person.
dolor de cabeza Dolor de cabeza means “headache” as a whole expression. Dolor means pain, de links it to cabeza, meaning head, so the expression refers to pain in the head; use it when telling someone about this symptom.
Siéntate Siéntate tells one person to sit down. It is a direct instruction used here as a caring response to someone who feels unwell; use it when inviting someone to take a seat and rest.
minuto Minuto means “minute” in un minuto, which suggests a short amount of time in this instruction. A reusable pattern is un minuto after an action or request when referring to a brief time; use it when asking someone to pause briefly.
y Y means “and” and joins the two instructions Siéntate un minuto and descansa los ojos. Use y to connect two actions or ideas, especially when giving two related instructions in one sentence.
descansa Descansa tells one person to rest, here specifically the eyes in descansa los ojos. It is used as a direct, caring instruction; a reusable pattern is descansa + something that should rest, such as a body part.
los Los is the article “the” before ojos in los ojos, referring to the eyes as a specific plural noun. Use los before a plural noun when talking about specific things, as in los + noun.
ojos Ojos means “eyes” in descansa los ojos. It names the body part that should rest in this situation; use it when talking about the eyes, especially with a verb describing what they do or need.
¿Podrías ¿Podrías means “Could you” and begins a polite request in ¿Podrías traerme un poco de agua? A reusable pattern is ¿Podrías + action, as when politely asking another person to do something for you.
traerme Traerme means “bring me” in ¿Podrías traerme un poco de agua? The form combines the action of bringing with me as the recipient, and after ¿Podrías it states the requested action; use ¿Podrías traerme + thing when asking someone to bring you something.
poco Poco means “a little” or “a small amount” in un poco de agua. The reusable quantity pattern is un poco de + noun, useful when requesting or describing a small amount of something.
de De links the quantity un poco to the substance agua in un poco de agua. In the pattern un poco de + noun, it helps express “a little of” or “some”; use it when naming what the small amount consists of.
agua Agua means “water” in un poco de agua. It is the drink being requested and later consumed; use it when asking for or talking about water, including in the pattern un poco de agua.
Toma Toma means “Here, take it” as someone hands over the water in Toma, bébela despacio. It is useful when offering or handing something to another person, especially in a brief response while giving them an object.
bébela Bébela means “drink it” in the instruction about the water. The form refers back to the water as the thing to drink and places that reference directly with the command; use it when telling someone to drink the offered liquid.
despacio Despacio means “slowly” and explains how the person should drink in bébela despacio. It is a reusable adverb for describing a careful or unhurried action; use it when advising someone to take their time.
También También means “also” or “too” in También me siento un poco cansado, adding tiredness to the headache already mentioned. It commonly appears before the verb or clause it adds to; use it when reporting another condition or fact.
me Me identifies the speaker as the person experiencing the feeling in me siento un poco cansado. It works together with siento in this expression; use me siento + description when saying how you feel.
siento Siento means “feel” in me siento un poco cansado. Together with me, it expresses the speaker’s own physical or emotional state; use the pattern me siento + adjective or condition when describing how you feel.
cansado Cansado means “tired” in me siento un poco cansado and describes the speaker’s condition. It is useful after me siento when telling someone that you lack energy or need rest.
Puedes Puedes means “you can” in Puedes acostarte en esta habitación tranquila, offering the addressee the possibility of lying down. A reusable pattern is Puedes + action, useful when giving someone permission or suggesting what they may do.
acostarte Acostarte means “lie down” in Puedes acostarte en esta habitación tranquila. It names the action for the person being addressed after Puedes; use the pattern Puedes acostarte + en + place when suggesting a place where someone can rest.
en En means “in” and introduces the location in en esta habitación tranquila. Use en + place to say where someone or something is or where an action can happen, as when offering a room for rest.
esta Esta means “this” and identifies the particular room in esta habitación tranquila. It is used before the noun it points out; use esta + noun when referring to one nearby or clearly identified thing.
habitación Habitación means “room” in esta habitación tranquila. It names the place where the person can lie down; use it after a location word such as en when specifying an indoor place.
tranquila Tranquila means “quiet” here and describes habitación as a calm place for resting. The expression habitación tranquila is useful when describing a room that is suitable for rest or quiet activity.
Espero Espero means “I hope” in Espero sentirme mejor pronto, expressing the speaker’s hope for improvement. A reusable pattern is Espero + action or situation, useful when saying what you hope will happen.
sentirme Sentirme means “feel” in Espero sentirme mejor pronto, referring to the speaker’s own condition after espero. It is used before a description such as mejor; the pattern Espero sentirme + description is useful when expressing hope about how you will feel.
mejor Mejor means “better” in sentirme mejor and indicates improvement from the speaker’s current state. Use it with sentirme when saying that your condition is improving or that you hope to recover.
pronto Pronto means “soon” and gives the expected time for feeling better in Espero sentirme mejor pronto. It is a time expression that can be added to a sentence when an event is expected in the near future.
Quédate Quédate tells one person to stay or remain in the current place. In Quédate aquí, it is a caring instruction to remain nearby while resting; use it when asking someone not to leave a place.
aquí Aquí means “here” and identifies the place where the person should stay in Quédate aquí. Use it with verbs of staying, coming, or being when referring to the speaker’s current location.
llámame Llámame means “call me” in llámame si necesitas algo. The form gives a direct instruction to call the speaker, and me identifies the person to call; use llámame si + condition when telling someone to contact you if something happens.
si Si means “if” and introduces the condition si necesitas algo. It connects a possible situation with what should happen afterward; use si + situation when giving conditional help or instructions.
necesitas Necesitas means “need” in si necesitas algo, describing a possible need of the person being addressed. Use necesitas + thing when asking or talking about what someone requires, especially in a helpful offer.
algo Algo means “anything” in si necesitas algo, referring to an unspecified thing the person may need. The pattern necesitas algo is useful when checking whether someone requires anything, especially when offering help.

Grammar Points

Imperativo afirmativo + pronombre

Siéntate aquí.

SYEN-tah-teh ah-KEE

Sit down here.

In affirmative commands, object or reflexive pronouns attach to the end of the verb: siéntate, bébela, llámame.

sentirse + adjetivo

Me siento cansado.

meh SYEN-toh kahn-SAH-doh

I feel tired.

Sentirse is reflexive: the pronoun changes with the person, and the adjective agrees with the person.

Spanish Vocabulary

agua noun
AH-gwah water
beber verb
beh-BEHR to drink; to sip bébela
descansar verb
deh-skahns-SAR to rest descansa
dolor de cabeza phrase
doh-LOR deh kah-BEH-sah headache
ligero adj
lee-HEH-roh slight; light
minuto noun
mee-NOO-toh minute
ojo noun
OH-hoh eye ojos
sentarse verb
sehn-TAR-seh to sit down Siéntate
tener verb
teh-NEHR to have Tengo
tomar verb
toh-MAR to take; to have Toma
traer verb
trah-EHR to bring traerme
un poco de phrase
oon POH-koh deh some; a little

Quiz

Word Order

Arrange the words in the correct order.

I have a slight headache.

Show AnswerTengo un ligero dolor de cabeza.

Could you bring me some water?

Show Answer¿Podrías traerme un poco de agua?

Here, sip it slowly.

Show AnswerToma, bébela despacio.

Spelling

Tap the letters to spell the word.

slight; light

Show Answerligero

to sit down

Show AnswerSiéntate

eye

Show Answerojos

to have

Show AnswerTengo