Making a clinic appointment when you feel unwell | Learn Spanish in English

Sentence explanations

1. Tengo tos y hoy me siento cansado.

   I have a cough and feel tired today.

   Tengo

   I have

   tos

   cough

   hoy

   today

   me siento

   I feel

   cansado

   tired

   More detail

   Tengo is the first-person singular present form of tener (“to have”). Spanish commonly uses tener to state bodily symptoms: Tengo tos means “I have a cough.” tos is a noun meaning “cough.” In this symptom expression, it appears without an article; compare the reusable pattern Tengo + symptom. hoy is the time adverb “today.” It can be placed in different positions, but here it comes before the feeling clause and specifies when the speaker feels tired. Me siento combines the pronoun me with siento, the first-person singular present form of sentir; together, me siento is the first-person singular form used with the pronominal verb sentirse (“to feel”). Me siento bien means “I feel well,” while Me siento mal means “I feel bad.” cansado is a descriptive adjective meaning “tired” here. It is masculine singular and agrees with the speaker’s grammatical gender and number in this sentence; the corresponding feminine singular form is cansada. The adjective describes the speaker’s state in me siento cansado. The conjunction y links the two statements: Tengo tos + hoy me siento cansado. Together, the utterance means “I have a cough and feel tired today.”

2. Deberías llamar a la clínica y pedir una cita.

   You should call the clinic and ask for an appointment.

   Deberías

   you should

   llamar

   to call

   clínica

   clinic

   pedir

   to ask for

   cita

   appointment

   More detail

   Deberías is the second-person singular conditional form of deber. Here it gives advice: “you should” or “you ought to.” The form is not an imperative. Compare debes (“you must/should,” present) with deberías (“you should,” more tentative advice). Example: Deberías descansar. — “You should rest.” llamar is the infinitive “to call.” After deberías, Spanish uses an infinitive: deberías llamar = “you should call.” The infinitive does not itself mark the person here; deberías supplies the second-person singular form. Example: Debes llamar mañana. — “You must call tomorrow.” clínica is a feminine noun meaning “clinic.” In a la clínica, la agrees with the feminine singular noun clínica; the phrase specifies the clinic being called. The noun’s plural is clínicas. pedir is the infinitive “to ask for” or “to request.” It is coordinated with llamar by y, so the advice contains two actions: call and ask for something. Example: Voy a pedir ayuda. — “I am going to ask for help.” cita is a feminine noun meaning “appointment.” In una cita, it means an appointment as the item being requested. The indefinite article introduces that singular item; it is not a separate claim about a numerical count. Its plural is citas. Example: Necesito una cita. — “I need an appointment.” Together, Deberías llamar a la clínica means “You should call the clinic,” and y pedir una cita adds the coordinated action “and ask for an appointment.” The complete utterance advises the listener to call the clinic and request an appointment.

3. ¿Qué debería decir cuando llame?

   What should I say when I call?

   ¿Qué

   What

   debería

   should

   decir

   say

   cuando

   when

   llame

   I call

   More detail

   ¿Qué asks for the thing or words to be said: “what?” In this sentence it introduces the content of the speaker’s question. Compare ¿Qué hago? (“What do I do?”) with ¿Quién llama? (“Who is calling?”): qué asks about a thing or content, while quién asks about a person. debería is the first-person singular conditional form of deber, “to have to” or “should.” Here it expresses advice about what the speaker ought to do, matching “should I.” The subject is understood as yo (“I”), which is supported by the fixed translation. The conditional ending in debería is different from present debo (“I must / I have to”) and imperfect debía (“I had to / I was supposed to,” depending on context). decir is the infinitive “to say” or “to tell.” After debería, Spanish uses an infinitive: debería decir = “I should say.” The useful pattern is debería + infinitive, for example: Debería esperar. — “I should wait.” cuando means “when” and introduces the time condition for the following action. It is not the question word cuándo (“when?”), which carries an accent when used as a direct or embedded question: ¿Cuándo llamo? — “When do I call?” llame is the first-person singular present subjunctive form of llamar, “to call.” In cuando llame, it refers to the anticipated call: “when I call.” Spanish commonly uses the subjunctive after a time expression such as cuando when the event is future or not yet completed; the indicative cuando llamo would normally present the calling as habitual or already established instead. Together, ¿Qué debería decir means “What should I say,” and cuando llame adds “when I call.” The complete utterance is therefore “What should I say when I call?” The wording asks for guidance about the words to use during a future call.

4. Diles que te sientes mal y que te gustaría ver a un médico.

   Tell them you feel unwell and would like to see a doctor.

   Diles

   Tell them

   te sientes

   you feel

   mal

   unwell

   te gustaría

   would like

   ver

   to see

   médico

   doctor

   More detail

   Diles means “tell them” here. It combines di, the affirmative tú command of decir (“to tell/say”), with the attached indirect-object pronoun les (“to them”). In affirmative commands, Spanish attaches the pronoun to the verb: Diles. This form addresses one listener; les refers to the people being told. te sientes comes from the reflexive verb sentirse, “to feel.” Sientes is the present-tense tú form, and te marks the person experiencing the state: te sientes = “you feel.” The reflexive form is important here; sentir can also mean “to feel” something directly, as in Siento frío (“I feel cold”), while sentirse describes how someone feels. mal is an adverb meaning “badly” or, in this expression, “unwell.” Together, te sientes mal is the reusable pattern “you feel unwell.” te gustaría expresses “you would like.” Gustaría is the third-person singular conditional form of gustar, while te is the indirect-object pronoun for the person whose preference is involved. The thing desired is the following action, ver a un médico, so the structure is literally organized around “seeing a doctor would be pleasing to you.” The conditional makes the desire less direct than quieres ver (“you want to see”). ver is the infinitive “to see.” After expressions such as te gustaría, Spanish uses an infinitive for an action the person would like to do: Me gustaría descansar = “I would like to rest.” médico is the masculine singular noun “doctor.” In a un médico, a introduces the human direct object of ver; this is the Spanish personal a. Un is an indefinite article and does not by itself state a numerical count; here it presents a doctor as the person to be seen. The conjunction que introduces each piece of information being reported. The sentence first gives the requested message, Diles, then reports its content: que te sientes mal (“that you feel unwell”) and que te gustaría ver a un médico (“that you would like to see a doctor”). Thus the whole utterance is: “Tell them you feel unwell and would like to see a doctor.”

5. También quiero preguntar qué horas están disponibles.

   I also want to ask what times are available.

   También

   also

   quiero

   I want

   preguntar

   to ask

   qué

   what; which

   horas

   times; hours

   están

   are

   disponibles

   available

   More detail

   También adds another point: “also” or “too.” It does not replace the earlier purpose; here, the speaker adds asking about times to the previously expressed wish to see a doctor. Example: También necesito ayuda. — “I also need help.” quiero is the first-person singular present form of querer, “to want.” The subject is yo, understood from the verb ending; quieres means “you want,” while quiere means “he, she, or you formal want.” In quiero preguntar, quiero expresses the speaker’s desire and the following infinitive names the action desired. preguntar is the infinitive “to ask.” After a conjugated verb such as quiero, Spanish commonly uses an infinitive for the action the subject wants to perform: Quiero descansar. — “I want to rest.” Because quiero already identifies the speaker, preguntar does not need a separate subject here. qué is the accented interrogative word “what” in this indirect question. It introduces the information being requested: the speaker wants to ask which times are available. The accent distinguishes this interrogative use from the unaccented conjunction que, which commonly introduces a statement or clause. Example: No sé qué necesitas. — “I don’t know what you need.” horas is the plural of the noun hora, “hour.” In this sentence, the translation shows that it refers to available times or time slots, not necessarily to a request for the duration of an hour. The plural indicates multiple times are being asked about. Example: ¿Qué horas prefieres? — “Which times do you prefer?” están is the third-person plural present form of estar, “to be.” Its subject here is horas, which is plural, so the form is están; está is used with a singular subject. Estar is used for a current state or condition, such as availability. Example: Las salas están abiertas. — “The rooms are open.” disponibles means “available.” It is the plural form of the adjective disponible, and it agrees in number with horas. The adjective ending -e does not show a masculine/feminine difference in the singular or plural: disponible and disponibles are used with nouns of either gender, while the plural -s agrees with plural nouns. Example: Hay dos mesas disponibles. — “There are two tables available.” Together, quiero preguntar means “I want to ask,” and qué horas están disponibles is the indirect question “what times are available.” También links this additional request to the surrounding conversation. The complete utterance therefore means: “I also want to ask what times are available.”

6. Eso les ayudará a encontrar una cita que te venga bien.

   That will help them find an appointment that works for you.

   Eso

   that

   les

   them

   ayudará

   will help

   encontrar

   to find

   cita

   appointment

   te venga bien

   works for you

   More detail

   Eso is a neuter demonstrative pronoun meaning “that” here. It points to something already understood from the situation; its form does not identify a particular masculine or feminine noun. les is the plural indirect-object pronoun “to them” or “for them.” With ayudar, the people helped are expressed with an indirect object: les ayudará = “it will help them.” The pronoun is plural; the sentence does not specify their gender. ayudará is the third-person singular future of ayudar (“to help”): ayudar → ayudará. The future ending shows that the help is expected later. Ayudará agrees with the singular subject Eso, not with les. encontrar is the infinitive “to find.” After ayudar, Spanish commonly uses ayudar a + infinitive: Eso les ayudará a encontrar... = “That will help them find...” The infinitive does not show a separate subject here; les supplies the people who will find the appointment. cita is a feminine noun meaning “appointment” in this context. Its plural is citas. The indefinite article in una cita introduces one unspecified appointment, but it is not being used as a numerical calculation or emphasis on the number one. te venga bien is a form of the construction venirle bien a alguien, literally related to something “coming well” to someone and used to mean “work for” or “suit” that person. Here te refers to you, and venga is the third-person singular present subjunctive of venir; the singular subject is una cita. The subjunctive fits the appointment being sought or selected as one that suits you, rather than asserting a particular appointment as an established fact. For example: Busco una hora que me venga bien. — “I’m looking for a time that works for me.” Together, Eso les ayudará a encontrar means “That will help them find,” una cita means “an appointment,” and que te venga bien specifies the appointment as one that works for you. The complete utterance is therefore: “That will help them find an appointment that works for you.”

7. Llamaré a la clínica ahora.

   I will call the clinic now.

   Llamaré

   I will call

   clínica

   clinic

   ahora

   now

   More detail

   Llamaré comes from llamar, “to call.” It is the first-person singular future form: llamaré = “I will call.” The ending identifies the implicit subject as yo; the subject pronoun does not need to be stated. Example: Llamaré después. — “I will call later.” clínica is a feminine noun meaning “clinic.” Its usual singular article is la, giving la clínica. Example: La clínica está abierta. — “The clinic is open.” In this sentence, a la clínica marks the clinic as the entity being called with llamar. ahora is an adverb meaning “now,” locating the calling at the present time or immediate moment. Example: Lo haré ahora. — “I will do it now.” Together, Llamaré a la clínica ahora. means “I will call the clinic now.” The future verb states what the implicit speaker will do, a la clínica identifies the clinic as the entity being called, and ahora specifies when.

8. Anota tus síntomas para poder explicarlos con claridad.

   Write your symptoms down so you can explain them clearly.

   Anota

   write down

   síntomas

   symptoms

   para poder

   in order to be able to

   explicarlos

   explain them

   claridad

   clarity

   More detail

   Anota is the affirmative command form of anotar for tú singular: “write down” or “note.” The command addresses one person informally. Compare the infinitive anotar with the command anota; this is not the usted form, which is anote. Síntomas is the plural noun “symptoms.” Its singular is síntoma, and the accent remains in the plural: síntomas. In this sentence, it is the direct object of anota. Para poder introduces a purpose and means “in order to be able to.” Poder is an infinitive here, following para; it expresses the ability that the purpose makes possible. A reusable pattern is para poder + infinitive: Trabajo para poder estudiar means “I work so that I can study.” Explicarlos combines the infinitive explicar, “to explain,” with the direct-object pronoun los: explicar + los → explicarlos. The pronoun refers to síntomas, which is masculine plural, so los is the matching form. The pronoun is attached to the end of the infinitive; with another direct object, the form changes, for example explicarla means “to explain it” when the object is feminine singular. Claridad is the noun “clarity.” With con, the phrase con claridad means “clearly” or literally “with clarity.” The related adjective is claro, while claridad names the quality itself. Together, Anota tus síntomas means “Write your symptoms down.” Para poder explicarlos gives the purpose: “so you can explain them,” with los referring back to the symptoms. Con claridad describes how they are explained. The whole utterance is therefore: “Write your symptoms down so you can explain them clearly.”