Telling pharmacist stomach hurts (Advanced): Asking for recommendations

🇯🇵 Japanese pharmacists usually offer a brief line of sympathy like this before asking questions. A small nod or はい is all the reply it needs.

💬 下痢 is said (geri).

🇯🇵 ございます is the very polite form of あります. Staff use it with customers, but you can answer with plain あります.

💬 や ... など lists examples without claiming the list is complete, like "things like A or B". Compare と, which lists everything.

💬 To say you have a symptom, use が + あります: 熱があります "I have a fever".

💬 Here は is said (wa). It puts the contrast on diarrhea: "as for diarrhea, no".

💬 Add すぎる to a verb's stem to mean "too much": 飲みすぎた "drank too much".

💬 かもしれません goes at the end of any statement to make it "might": 風邪かもしれません "It might be a cold".

💬 せい "fault, cause" names something bad as the cause: ストレスのせい "because of stress".

💬 でしたら is the polite form of だったら "if so"; staff use it when responding to what a customer just said.

💬 胃 "stomach" + 腸 "intestines" + 薬 "medicine". 薬 (yaku) ends many medicine names, like 風邪薬 "cold medicine".

💬 おすすめ is a noun, so you can also ask おすすめは何ですか "What do you recommend?"

💬 Japanese says 飲む "drink" for taking medicine, even pills.

💬 実は (jitsu wa) brings in something the listener didn't know, often a slightly awkward admission, like "to tell the truth".

🇯🇵 Hay fever, mostly from cedar pollen, affects a huge share of people in Japan each spring. Pharmacies stock many remedies for it.

💬 The ている form shows an ongoing habit, not only something happening right now.

💬 The て form + も means "even if". Add 大丈夫 or いい to ask permission: ここで食べてもいいですか "May I eat here?"

💬 念のため (nen no tame) is a set phrase. Put it at the start of a request to show you're only being careful.

💬 Adding お to 薬 makes it sound polite. Staff often say お薬 when talking to customers.

💬 伺う (ukagau) is the humble "ask". The speaker lowers their own action to show respect, so staff use it when asking you something.

💬 市販 (shihan) literally means "sold in the market". It describes anything you can buy without a prescription.

💬 という names something: Xという薬 means "a medicine called X".

💬 併用 (heiyō) means "using together". It's the formal word for combining medicines, and you'll often see it on labels and package inserts.

💬 〜ても問題ありません means "it's fine even if you…". Swap in any verb: 食べても問題ありません "it's fine to eat".

💬 併用 (heiyō) is a noun, and adding する turns it into a verb. Many words work this way, like 予約する "to make a reservation".

💬 Here 一日 is read (ichinichi), meaning "one day". When it means "the 1st of the month," the same characters are read (tsuitachi).

💬 Its opposite is 食前 (shokuzen) "before meals". Both often appear on medicine labels.

💬 In Japanese you "drink" medicine with 飲む, even pills and tablets.

🇯🇵 Wrapping a verb as お〜ください is the extra-polite request shop staff use with customers. Yourself, you'd just say 飲んでください.

🇯🇵 Locals often say this instead of a plain "thank you" when someone has gone out of their way to help. It warmly acknowledges the effort.

🇯🇵 じゃあ is the natural way to wrap up a decision at a shop counter, followed by それをお願いします "I'll take that, please".

💬 〜をお願いします works for asking for almost anything. Try 水をお願いします "water, please" or 袋をお願いします "a bag, please".

💬 じゃあ (jā) is a casual "well then" that signals you've made up your mind.

🇯🇵 This is a very formal "understood" that staff say to customers. You'll hear it constantly, but you wouldn't say it yourself as a shopper.

💬 で after a span of time means "within" or "by the end of" it, as in 三日で "in three days".

💬 良い "good" becomes 良く before なる "to become", giving "get better". The ending なければ adds "if not".

💬 The direction marker へ is said (e), not (he).

🇯🇵 病院 covers small local clinics too, not just big hospitals. Pharmacists usually mean seeing a doctor at a nearby clinic.

🇯🇵 Pharmacy and clinic staff say this to anyone unwell as they leave. A simple ありがとうございます "thank you" is the natural reply.