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

Sentence explanations

1. Je tousse et je suis fatigué aujourd'hui.

   I have a cough and feel tired today.

   tousse

   cough

   suis

   am

   fatigué

   tired

   aujourd'hui

   today

   More detail

   tousse means “cough” here. It is the first-person singular present form of tousser (“to cough”): je tousse = “I cough / I am coughing.” The subject pronoun je appears separately in the sentence, so tousse alone does not mean “I.” Example: Je tousse beaucoup. — “I cough a lot.” suis is the first-person singular present form of être (“to be”). In je suis, it links the subject to a description. Example: Je suis malade. — “I am ill.” The form suis is specifically used with je; it is not the form for every subject. fatigué means “tired” here. It is an adjective in the masculine singular form. French adjectives can agree with the person or thing they describe; the feminine singular form is fatiguée. The sentence’s form therefore presents the speaker with masculine singular agreement, while the English translation itself does not mark the speaker’s gender. Example: Il est fatigué. — “He is tired.” aujourd'hui means “today.” It is an adverb referring to the current day and is written with an apostrophe. Example: Je travaille aujourd'hui. — “I am working today.” The pattern je + present-tense verb gives “I …”: Je tousse means “I cough” or, in this health-related context, “I have a cough.” The second clause, je suis fatigué, uses être plus an adjective to say “I am tired.” Et joins the two clauses, and aujourd'hui places both statements on the current day. Together, Je tousse et je suis fatigué aujourd'hui. means “I have a cough and feel tired today.”

2. Tu devrais appeler la clinique et demander un rendez-vous.

   You should call the clinic and ask for an appointment.

   Tu devrais

   you should

   appeler

   to call

   clinique

   clinic

   demander

   to ask for

   rendez-vous

   appointment

   More detail

   Tu devrais means “you should” here. devrais is the second-person singular present conditional form of devoir (“to have to; must”). In advice, this conditional presents a recommendation less directly than an imperative. tu addresses one person informally; vous devriez can address one person formally or more than one person. appeler is the infinitive “to call.” After the conjugated form devrais, the following verb stays in the infinitive: tu devrais appeler = “you should call.” Example: Vous devriez attendre. — “You should wait.” la clinique means “the clinic.” clinique is a feminine singular noun, so the definite article is la. The feminine article agrees with this noun; it is not a numerical marker. With the indefinite article, the phrase is une clinique — “a clinic.” demander means “to ask for” in this sentence. It is an infinitive coordinated with appeler by et: appeler ... et demander ... joins the two actions under the recommendation expressed by devrais. Example: Je vais demander de l'aide. — “I am going to ask for help.” rendez-vous means “appointment” here. It is a masculine noun, shown by un in un rendez-vous. The compound is written with a hyphen. Its plural is des rendez-vous; the written noun form stays the same while the article changes. In this context, it refers to an appointment. Together, Tu devrais appeler la clinique et demander un rendez-vous. means “You should call the clinic and ask for an appointment.” Tu devrais gives the advice, and the coordinated infinitives appeler ... et demander ... name the two recommended actions.

3. Que dois-je dire quand j'appelle ?

   What should I say when I call?

   Que dois-je

   what should I

   dire

   say

   quand

   when

   j'appelle

   I call

   More detail

   Que dois-je forms a direct question meaning “what should I”. Que asks for the thing to be said, while dois is the first-person singular present form of devoir (“must / should” here). In a question, French commonly places the subject pronoun after the verb with a hyphen: dois-je. The question asks for appropriate content, not for a person. dire is the infinitive “to say”. After a modal such as devoir, the following verb stays in the infinitive: je dois dire = “I must/should say”. Useful forms include je dis (“I say / I am saying”) for the present of dire, but je dois dire expresses what the speaker should say. quand introduces a time clause meaning “when”. It can introduce a general or future situation without requiring a special future form in the subordinate clause. For example, Quand tu arrives, appelle-moi. means “When you arrive, call me.” j'appelle means “I call”. It is the first-person singular present form of appeler; je becomes j' before the vowel sound of appelle. The doubled l is part of this conjugated form. For example, J'appelle la clinique. means “I am calling the clinic” or “I call the clinic,” depending on context. Together, Que dois-je dire asks what the speaker ought to say, and quand j'appelle specifies the situation in which that advice is needed. The whole utterance therefore means “What should I say when I call?” In the supplied context, the call is the one to the clinic, but the sentence itself leaves the place understood rather than naming it.

4. Dis-leur que tu ne te sens pas bien et que tu aimerais voir un médecin.

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

   Dis-leur

   Tell them

   ne te sens pas bien

   do not feel well

   aimerais

   would like

   voir

   see

   médecin

   doctor

   More detail

   Dis-leur is an imperative form of dire (“to tell/say”) addressed to one person. Dis is the imperative for tu; leur is an indirect-object pronoun meaning “to them.” Together, the construction is reusable as Dis-lui... (“Tell him/her...”) or Dites-leur... (“Tell them...”, addressed formally to one person or to several people). ne te sens pas bien comes from the reflexive verb se sentir (“to feel”). Here, te marks the tu subject, and ne ... pas makes the clause negative: “you do not feel well.” Sens is the present-tense tu form of sentir; in the reflexive expression, te sens means “you feel.” Compare Je me sens bien (“I feel well”) and Je ne me sens pas bien (“I do not feel well”). aimerais is the conditional-present form of aimer (“to like/love”) for the tu subject: tu aimerais. In this sentence, the conditional expresses a polite wish: “you would like.” A useful pattern is J’aimerais + infinitive (“I would like to + verb”), for example, J’aimerais prendre rendez-vous. — “I would like to make an appointment.” voir is the infinitive “to see.” It follows aimerais in the pattern aimerais + infinitive; the person and conditional meaning are carried by aimerais, while voir remains unchanged. Je voudrais voir un médecin. means “I would like to see a doctor.” médecin is the noun “doctor.” In the full sentence, un médecin means “a doctor”; un is a masculine singular indefinite article, and the phrase refers to an unspecified doctor. Médecin can be used for a doctor of any gender; when the feminine article is used, une médecin is also possible in contemporary French. The sentence begins with the instruction Dis-leur and then gives the content of what to say: que tu ne te sens pas bien (“that you do not feel well”) and que tu aimerais voir un médecin (“that you would like to see a doctor”). The repeated que introduces the two content clauses. Altogether: “Tell them you feel unwell and would like to see a doctor.”

5. Je veux aussi demander quels horaires sont disponibles.

   I also want to ask what times are available.

   Je veux

   I want

   aussi

   also

   demander

   to ask

   quels

   which

   horaires

   times

   disponibles

   available

   More detail

   Je veux uses the first-person singular present form of vouloir (“to want”): je veux, tu veux, il/elle veut. In this sentence, veux is followed by an infinitive, so the pattern is je veux + infinitive: “I want to …” or “I would like to …” depending on context. Example: Je veux comprendre. — “I want to understand.” aussi means “also” and adds this intention to something already mentioned. Its position here, after Je veux, is natural: Je veux aussi + infinitive — “I also want to …” demander is the infinitive of “to ask.” After a conjugated form of vouloir, the next verb remains in the infinitive: Je veux demander — “I want to ask.” Example: Je veux demander le prix. — “I want to ask the price.” quels is the masculine plural form of the question determiner quel (“which/what”). It agrees with the noun it determines: quel with masculine singular, quelle with feminine singular, quels with masculine plural, and quelles with feminine plural. Here, quels agrees with horaires, so quels horaires means “what times” or “which times.” horaires is the plural of horaire, meaning “schedule” or “time(s)” in this context. French often uses horaires when asking about the times at which something is available, open, or scheduled. Example: Quels sont les horaires ? — “What are the hours/times?” disponibles is the plural form of the adjective disponible, “available.” It agrees in number with horaires; the plural ending is visible here, while the adjective has the same masculine and feminine spelling: disponible singular, disponibles plural. The relative clause quels horaires sont disponibles literally asks which times are available, with sont (“are”) linking the subject quels horaires to the adjective. Together, demander quels horaires sont disponibles means “to ask what times are available.” The complete pattern is Je veux aussi + infinitive + question clause: Je veux aussi demander quels horaires sont disponibles. — “I also want to ask what times are available.” The sentence expresses the speaker’s intention to make that inquiry.

6. Cela les aidera à trouver un rendez-vous qui te convient.

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

   Cela

   That

   les

   them

   aidera

   will help

   trouver

   find

   rendez-vous

   appointment

   qui

   that / which

   te

   you

   convient

   works for you

   More detail

   Cela is a demonstrative pronoun meaning “that” here. It points to something already understood in the situation, without naming a particular noun in this sentence. A useful contrast is ce before a noun, as in ce rendez-vous (“this appointment”), versus cela used on its own. les is the unstressed direct-object pronoun “them.” It comes before the conjugated verb: Cela les aidera means “That will help them.” The form les does not show the recipients’ gender; it is the plural direct-object form. Compare singular le (“him/it”) and la (“her/it”) where the grammar requires those forms. aidera is the third-person singular future form of aider (“to help”): aider → il/elle/on aidera. The future places the helping after the current point in time. In this sentence, Cela is the subject and les is the people helped. Example: Cette information aidera Marie. — “This information will help Marie.” trouver is the infinitive “to find.” After aider, French commonly uses à plus an infinitive: aider quelqu’un à trouver quelque chose (“help someone find something”). The infinitive does not change for the person doing the finding. Example: Je l’aide à trouver une solution. — “I help him/her find a solution.” rendez-vous is a masculine noun meaning “appointment” here. Its plural is rendez-vous, with the same written form: un rendez-vous (“an appointment”), des rendez-vous (“appointments”). The hyphenated noun can also refer to a meeting, but the fixed translation selects the appointment sense here. qui begins the relative clause qui te convient and is the subject of convient. Here it refers back to un rendez-vous, so the clause means “that works for you.” In a relative clause, qui marks the element that performs the following verb; compare un horaire qui convient (“a time that works”). te is the unstressed pronoun “to you” in this use. With convenir, the person for whom something is suitable is expressed with à: quelque chose convient à quelqu’un (“something suits someone”). Thus te represents à toi in te convient. The form te is singular and informal; the plural or formal counterpart is vous. convient is the third-person singular present form of convenir, whose base form is convenir. In this construction, un rendez-vous convient à quelqu’un means “an appointment works for someone” or “suits someone.” The form is singular because qui refers to the singular noun rendez-vous; the person benefiting is shown separately by te. Example: Cette heure me convient. — “This time works for me.” Together, Cela les aidera means “That will help them.” à trouver un rendez-vous identifies what they will be helped to do: find an appointment. The relative clause qui te convient describes that appointment and says it works for you. The complete meaning is therefore: “That will help them find an appointment that works for you.”

7. Je vais appeler la clinique maintenant.

   I will call the clinic now.

   Je vais

   I will

   appeler

   to call

   clinique

   clinic

   maintenant

   now

   More detail

   Je vais is the first-person singular form of aller (“to go”). Before an infinitive, aller forms the near future: je vais + infinitive means “I am going to …” or, in a suitable context, “I will …”. Here it is not describing movement to a place. Compare je vais appeler (“I am going to call”) with je vais à la clinique (“I am going to the clinic”), where aller describes movement and is followed by a place phrase. appeler is the infinitive “to call.” The infinitive is the form used after vais in the near-future pattern. The present forms include j'appelle (“I call” or “I am calling”) and nous appelons (“we call”); the double l in the infinitive is part of this verb’s spelling. Example: Je vais appeler demain. — “I will call tomorrow.” clinique is the noun “clinic.” In this sentence it appears after the feminine singular article la: la clinique, “the clinic.” The article expresses a specific clinic in the intended meaning; the noun itself does not express the article’s definiteness. Example: La clinique ouvre tôt. — “The clinic opens early.” maintenant means “now.” It is an adverb of time and specifies when the calling is to happen. It can be placed in other positions, for example: Je vais maintenant appeler la clinique. — “I will now call the clinic.” Together, Je vais + appeler creates the near-future construction “I will call” / “I am going to call”; la clinique identifies what is being called, and maintenant places the action now. The whole utterance therefore means: “I will call the clinic now.”

8. Note tes symptômes pour pouvoir les expliquer clairement.

   Write your symptoms down so you can explain them clearly.

   Note

   write down

   symptômes

   symptoms

   pour pouvoir

   in order to be able to

   expliquer

   explain

   clairement

   clearly

   More detail

   Note is the imperative of noter for tu: it means “write down.” With regular -er verbs, this imperative normally has no final -s; compare present-tense tu notes. Example: Note cette adresse. — “Write down this address.” symptômes is the plural of the noun symptôme, meaning “symptom.” The possessive tes means “your” before a plural noun; it does not by itself state how many symptoms there are. Example: Tes symptômes sont nouveaux. — “Your symptoms are new.” pour pouvoir introduces a purpose: “in order to be able to.” Pouvoir is in the infinitive because it follows pour; its useful forms include je peux — “I can” and tu peux — “you can.” Example: Je prends des notes pour pouvoir répondre. — “I take notes in order to be able to answer.” les is an object pronoun meaning “them” here. The fixed translation identifies its referent as the symptoms. In French, les is used for a plural direct object, regardless of grammatical gender. Expliquer is the infinitive “to explain”; it follows pouvoir in the sequence pouvoir expliquer, because a conjugated modal-like verb is followed by another verb in the infinitive. clairement is the adverb “clearly.” It describes how the explaining is done. It is related to the adjective clair — “clear,” but clairement itself does not agree with a noun. Example: Elle explique clairement le problème. — “She explains the problem clearly.” Together, Note tes symptômes means “Write your symptoms down.” pour pouvoir les expliquer clairement gives the purpose: “so you can explain them clearly.” The complete utterance is therefore: “Write your symptoms down so you can explain them clearly.”