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How to Say ‘I'll tap your lower back. Does it hurt?’ in Simplified Chinese

我敲敲腰，疼吗？

wǒ qiāo qiāo yāo téng ma

[wo qiāoqiao yāo téng ma]

🇨🇳 In China: Tapping the lower back over the kidneys is a routine check for kidney trouble. A plain 疼 "it hurts" or 不疼 is all the answer the doctor expects.

Phrase Breakdown

我敲敲腰，

wǒ qiāo qiāo yāo

I'll tap your lower back,

The doctor describes the action first. The doubled verb 敲敲 (qiāoqiao) sounds light and gentle.

Example

我敲敲腰，你别动。

I'll tap your lower back; don't move.

Words in this phrase

我

wǒ

[wo]

The speaker referring to themselves.

Example

我明天有空。

I am free tomorrow.

敲敲

qiāo qiāo

[qiāoqiao]

to tap lightly

Reduplicated verb meaning to tap or knock a little.

Example

他敲敲门就进来了。

He knocked on the door and came in.

腰

yāo

[yāo]

waist; lower back

The middle part of the body; often refers to the lower back.

Example

我的腰不舒服。

My lower back feels uncomfortable.

疼吗？

téng ma

does it hurt?

疼 (téng) means 'to hurt', and 吗 (ma) makes it a question.

Example

这儿疼吗？

Does it hurt here?

Words in this phrase

疼

téng

[téng]

to hurt; painful

Describes physical pain in a body part.

Example

我头疼。

I have a headache.

吗

[ma]

question particle

A sentence-final particle used to turn a statement into a yes-no question.

Example

你是第一次来吗？这里的“吗”表示提问。

Is this your first time here? Here, 吗 marks a question.

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