Speaking German
How to describe a symptom at the pharmacy, in German
If you are in the chair right now
Ich habe seit gestern Bauchschmerzen. Können Sie mir etwas empfehlen?
I've had a stomach ache since yesterday. Can you recommend something?
If that gets brushed off
Ich weiß nicht, wie das heißt, aber es ist hier.
I don't know what it's called, but it's here.
Two traps in one sentence, both dodged: the symptom is one compound word — Bauchschmerzen — and seit takes the present tense, «ich habe seit gestern», never «ich hatte». The pain is still going, so in German the tense stays with it.
The Apotheke is where learners get sick twice: once from whatever is wrong, and once from discovering that English tenses have followed them in. «I have had it since yesterday» comes out as a past tense, the pharmacist hears a problem that ended, and the conversation starts wrong. One rule fixes it.
If you need more than one line
neutral
Ich habe Halsschmerzen.
I have a sore throat. German compounds the symptom: Kopf-, Bauch-, Hals-, Rücken-, Zahnschmerzen — body part plus Schmerzen names most of what can go wrong.
neutral
Seit gestern. / Seit drei Tagen.
Since yesterday. / For three days. Seit plus the present tense — the pain continues, so the verb does too.
neutral
Ich habe schon Ibuprofen genommen, aber es hilft nicht.
I've already taken ibuprofen, but it isn't helping. What you have tried is half of what they need.
firmest
Ist das rezeptfrei?
Is that available without a prescription? Rezeptfrei and rezeptpflichtig sort the whole Apotheke into two shelves.
Two things worth knowing
The vocabulary is buildable. The tense is what catches people.
Seit refuses the past tense
English says «I have had it since yesterday» and the perfect feels obligatory. German looks at the same situation and stays in the present: «ich habe seit gestern Kopfschmerzen» — you still have it, so the tense says so. Slipping into «ich hatte» tells the pharmacist the problem is over, which is precisely the wrong opening for this conversation.
Compound your symptom, point for the rest
Body part plus -schmerzen manufactures most complaints on demand, and for anything the compound cannot reach, «es tut hier weh» — it hurts here — plus a pointed finger covers the remainder without a single noun. Between those two patterns and the pharmacist's training, the missing vocabulary is their problem, not yours.
What Anna actually said
What you have to get done
- Explain the issue without naming it
- Share what you have tried so far
- Confirm usage instructions after asking
Anna
Hello! How can I help you today?
You
Hello, thanks. Since yesterday I've had an unpleasant feeling in my throat, as if something were constantly stuck there, and it scratches when I swallow.
Anna
That sounds unpleasant; have you tried anything for it so far?
You
Yes, I've already gargled with warm tea and a little honey, but unfortunately it has barely helped.
Anna
Good to know; I'd recommend a throat lozenge.
You
A lozenge sounds sensible; how often may I take one, and is there anything to bear in mind afterwards?
Anna
Take them exactly as the packet says, let them dissolve slowly, and don't eat or drink for a little while afterwards.
You
Got it — I'll let them dissolve slowly and not eat or drink for a while afterwards; how often does the packet say I may take them?
Anna
That depends on the product; stick exactly to what the packet says — and get well soon!
The whole conversation, unedited
A real run in the app, nothing scripted on the pharmacist's side. The transcript above is taken from this recording, and the objectives tick off on screen as they are met.
Turn sound on to hear it.
Now say it yourself
Reading that is not the same as producing it with someone waiting, which is the entire difficulty. You can have this exact conversation in the app: Anna is a third of the way through, and you have three things to get done.
It is free, it takes about a minute to start, and the first attempt is allowed to be terrible.
Practise this conversation
