Lesson Transcript

Let's look at the sentence pattern.
Do you remember how the character said,
"I have a headache. And my stomach hurts."
Έχω πονοκέφαλο. Και πονάει το στομάχι μου. (Ého ponokéfalo. Ke ponái to stomáhi mu.)
Έχω πονοκέφαλο. Και πονάει το στομάχι μου. (Ého ponokéfalo. Ke ponái to stomáhi mu.)
This dialogue includes key patterns for describing health symptoms:
Έχω + symptom (noun)
Ého + symptom (noun)
I have + [symptom]
The first structure is: Έχω + [symptom] (Ého + symptom), meaning "I have + [a symptom]."
This is a simple and common way to talk about things like πονοκέφαλο (ponokéfalo), "headache," πυρετό (piretó), "fever," or βήχα (vícha), "cough."
Let's see how the line from the dialogue uses the pattern.
Έχω πονοκέφαλο. (Ého ponokéfalo. )
"I have a headache."
Let's break it down:
Έχω, the verb, is the present tense of έχω, meaning "I have,"
followed by
πονοκέφαλο, a noun meaning "headache."
So altogether: Έχω πονοκέφαλο (Ého ponokéfalo) means "I have a headache."
Πονάει + body part
Ponái + body part
[Body part] hurts
You can also use Πονάει + [body part] (Ponái + body part) to express that something hurts, for example:
Και πονάει το στομάχι μου. (Ke ponái to stomáhi mu.), meaning "And my stomach hurts."
Let's learn more useful words and expressions that go with the patterns we've just learned.
With Έχω + [symptom] (Ého + [symptom]), you can say:
Έχω πονοκέφαλο (Ého ponokéfalo), meaning "I have a headache,"
Έχω ένα κρύωμα (Ého éna kríoma), "I have a cold,"
Έχω βήχα (Ého víha), "I have a cough,"
Έχω πυρετό (Ého piretó), "I have a fever,"
Έχω αλλεργία (Ého alleryía), "I have an allergy,"
Έχω ναυτία (Ého naftía), "I have nausea,"
or Έχω καταρροή (Ého kataroí), "I have a runny nose."
You can also talk about pain or discomfort using the structure Πονάει + [body part] (Ponái + [body part]).
For example:
Πονάει το στομάχι μου (Ponái to stomáhi mu), "My stomach hurts,"
Πονάει ο λαιμός μου (Ponái o lemós mu), "My throat hurts,"
Πονάει το κεφάλι μου (Ponái to kefáli mu), "My head hurts,"
Πονάει το δόντι μου (Ponái to dónti mu), "My tooth hurts,"
and Πονάει η πατούσα μου (Ponái i patoúsa mu), "The sole of my foot hurts."
These two patterns help you clearly describe a wide range of health problems in Greek, naturally and confidently.
Now let's look at some speaking examples.
Έχω βήχα. (Ého vícha.)
"I have a cough."
Can you see how the pattern applies here?
Let's break it down.
Έχω, the verb, is the present tense of the verb έχω, meaning "I have,"
followed by
βήχα, a noun meaning "cough."
This fits the pattern: Έχω + [symptom]
So altogether: Έχω βήχα means "I have a cough."
Here's another example
Πονάει το πόδι μου. (Ponái to pódi mu.)
"My foot hurts."
Πονάει το πόδι μου. (Ponái to pódi mu.)
"My foot hurts."
Let's try one more,
Πονάει ο λαιμός μου από χθες. (Ponái o lemós mu apó hthes.)
"My throat has been hurting since yesterday."
Πονάει ο λαιμός μου από χθες. (Ponái o lemós mu apó hthes.)
"My throat has been hurting since yesterday."
Now you know how to talk about health problems in Greek.
...and now let's move on to the practice.

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