A doctor's appointment is where a lot of French comes at you at once: booking it, checking in, describing what is wrong, and leaving with an ordonnance you cannot read. This poster is the twenty words that carry the whole visit, from the salle d'attente to the arrêt maladie.
Two practical things before you go. Most people now book through Doctolib rather than by phone, and a standard consultation with a généraliste is 30 euros, most of which comes back to you through the carte Vitale. For anything minor, the pharmacist can advise you first, which often saves the appointment altogether.
Free 4-page guide
The words English speakers get wrong in French
False friends that look like English and mean something else, the numbers that turn into arithmetic, and the expressions that make no sense translated word for word.
- False friends, with what the word really means and the word you wanted
- Seventy to a hundred, written out, with the Belgian and Swiss forms
- Everyday expressions, and what they actually do in a conversation
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The 20 words at the doctor's
| French | English | In a sentence |
|---|---|---|
| le cabinet médical | doctor's office, surgery | Le cabinet médical est au premier étage. |
| la salle d'attente | waiting room | Patientez dans la salle d'attente. |
| le rendez-vous | appointment | J'ai un rendez-vous à quatorze heures. |
| remplir un formulaire | to fill in a form | On me demande de remplir un formulaire. |
| la carte Vitale | French health card | N'oubliez pas votre carte Vitale. |
| la consultation | consultation, appointment | La consultation dure vingt minutes. |
| le médecin | doctor | Le médecin va vous recevoir. |
| le stéthoscope | stethoscope | Le médecin écoute mon cœur avec le stéthoscope. |
| prendre la tension | to take blood pressure | L'infirmière me prend la tension. |
| prendre la température | to take a temperature | On prend la température de l'enfant. |
| se peser | to weigh oneself | Le médecin me demande de me peser. |
| la radio | X-ray | Je dois passer une radio du poumon. |
| l'ordonnance | prescription | Le médecin me fait une ordonnance. |
| les médicaments | medicine | Prenez ces médicaments après les repas. |
| la piqûre | injection, jab | L'infirmière me fait une piqûre. |
| le pansement | plaster, bandage | Elle met un pansement sur la plaie. |
| être malade | to be ill | Je suis malade depuis deux jours. |
| tousser | to cough | Je tousse beaucoup la nuit. |
| avoir mal | to be in pain, to hurt | J'ai mal partout. |
| l'arrêt maladie | sick note, sick leave | Le médecin m'a prescrit un arrêt maladie. |
Describing your symptoms
The one pattern that does most of the work is j'ai mal à + the body part. The à contracts as usual: à + le becomes au, à + les becomes aux.
| French | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| J'ai mal à la tête. | I have a headache. | la tête, feminine, so à la |
| J'ai mal au dos. | I have back pain. | le dos, masculine, so au |
| J'ai mal à la gorge. | I have a sore throat. | la gorge, feminine, so à la |
| J'ai mal aux dents. | I have toothache. | Plural, so aux |
| J'ai de la fièvre. | I have a temperature. | Not j'ai chaud, which means I feel hot |
| Je me sens fatigué(e). | I feel tired. | se sentir + adjective, agrees with you |
| J'ai la nausée. | I feel sick, nauseous. | Not je suis malade, which is more general |
| Ça fait mal ici. | It hurts here. | Useful when you can point at it |
Two things worth knowing
France runs on the médecin traitant, the GP you declare as your main doctor. Seeing them first is what keeps your reimbursement at the full rate; going straight to a specialist without being referred costs you more. When you register, that is the box you are filling in.
If you are signed off work, the doctor issues an arrêt maladie, sometimes called an arrêt de travail. It is the certificate that lets you stay home and still be covered, and the first thing your employer and the Assurance Maladie will ask for.