Telling doctor stomach hurts: Understanding your treatment and how to take your medicine

💬 Germans nehmen "take" medicine just like in English. The verb goes after the object: Medikamente nehmen "to take medication".

💬 With soll, the main verb drops to the end in its basic form: Wann soll ich kommen? "When should I come?"

💬 Add -mal to a number to say how many times: einmal "once", dreimal "three times". Package inserts often write it as 3x täglich "3 times daily".

💬 Adding -s to a time of day turns it into "in the ..." or "every ...": mittags "at midday", nachts "at night". These are written with a small letter.

💬 Essen is the verb "to eat" used as a noun, so it takes a capital letter and das. After nach, das becomes dem: nach dem Schlafen "after sleeping".

💬 vor and nach change das Essen to dem Essen. Same swap: nach dem Frühstück "after breakfast".

💬 There's no word for "of": ein Glas Wasser is literally "a glass water". Same pattern: eine Tasse Tee "a cup of tea".

💬 wie lange asks about a stretch of time, while wie oft asks how many times. Mixing them up gets you the wrong dosage answer.

💬 After etwas, an adjective gets a capital letter and an -es ending: etwas Warmes "something warm", nichts Fettiges "nothing greasy".

🇩🇪 German doctors routinely give diet advice for stomach trouble, usually meaning plain foods like rusks, rice, bananas and herbal tea.

🇩🇪 You'll often see this written as z. B., including on package inserts and doctors' notes.

🇩🇪 Zwieback is the classic German food for an upset stomach and is sold in every supermarket. Many Germans remember it from being sick as a child.

💬 After wenn, the verb jumps to the end: wenn es nicht besser wird. The same thing happens in wenn ich Fieber habe "if I have a fever".

💬 With Sie, a polite request looks like a question with the verb first: Kommen Sie bitte. The falling tone and bitte make it a request.

🇩🇪 Coming back usually means calling the practice for a new appointment rather than just turning up. Ask Brauche ich einen Termin? "Do I need an appointment?"

🇩🇪 Germans say this to anyone who's ill, from colleagues to shop staff, and doctors often say it as you leave. A simple Danke is the usual reply.

🇩🇪 Leaving a doctor's office, the polite formal goodbye is right. Many people also add Danke schön on the way out.