Telling doctor stomach hurts: Saying your stomach hurts and for how long

💬 今日 is read (kyō), and the は after it is said (wa), not (ha). Literally this asks "what happened?", which is how Japanese doctors open the conversation.

💬 Swap in any body part before が痛いです to say where it hurts: 頭が痛いです (atama ga itai desu) "I have a headache", のどが痛いです (nodo ga itai desu) "I have a sore throat". Japanese doesn't need "my". It's clear you mean your own stomach.

💬 Said with a falling tone, this isn't a question even though it ends in か. It just shows you've taken in what was said.

💬 から means "from" or "since" and goes after the time word. The answer uses the same pattern: put a time before からです.

💬 Reuse the frame ___からです with other times: けさからです (kesa kara desu) "since this morning", 三日前からです (mikka mae kara desu) "since three days ago".

💬 へん means "area" or "around", so the doctor is asking roughly which area. You don't need to name the exact spot.

🇯🇵 Pointing to the spot while saying this is perfectly normal in a Japanese clinic. It's the easiest answer when you don't know the word for a body part.

💬 To say it comes and goes instead, use ときどき痛いです (tokidoki itai desu) "it hurts sometimes". Doctors often ask about this difference.

💬 Japanese says "is there a fever?" using あります "to exist/have". The same pattern works for other symptoms, like せきはありますか (seki wa arimasu ka) "do you have a cough?"