The pharmacist's advice in Hebrew
The duty pharmacy, third day of a cold in Hebrew. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «שלום. מה כואב לך?» — Hello. What hurts?; «כואב לי הגרון ויש לי שיעול.» — My throat hurts and I have a cough. The conversation is predictable: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: the duty pharmacy, third day of a cold. The conversation is short and predictable — which is exactly what makes it good for a first try: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
- שלום. מה כואב לך?шалом. ма коэв леха?Hello. What hurts?
- כואב לי הגרון ויש לי שיעול.коэв ли ха-гарон ве-йеш ли шиуль.My throat hurts and I have a cough.
- יש לך גם חום?йеш леха гам хом?Is there a fever too?
- כן, מאתמול. גם האף לא טוב.кен, мэ-этмоль. гам ха-аф ло тов.Yes, since yesterday. And my nose is bad.
- כדורים בלי מרשם, פעמיים ביום אחרי האוכל.кдурим бли миршам, паамаим ба-йом ахарей ха-охель.Pills without a prescription, twice a day after meals.
- תודה רבה! כמה זה עולה?тода раба! кама зэ оле?Thank you very much! How much is it?
Lines one by one
| Hebrew | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| שלום. מה כואב לך? | шалом. ма коэв леха? | Hello. What hurts? |
| כואב לי הגרון ויש לי שיעול. | коэв ли ха-гарон ве-йеш ли шиуль. | My throat hurts and I have a cough. |
| יש לך גם חום? | йеш леха гам хом? | Is there a fever too? |
| כן, מאתמול. גם האף לא טוב. | кен, мэ-этмоль. гам ха-аф ло тов. | Yes, since yesterday. And my nose is bad. |
| כדורים בלי מרשם, פעמיים ביום אחרי האוכל. | кдурим бли миршам, паамаим ба-йом ахарей ха-охель. | Pills without a prescription, twice a day after meals. |
| תודה רבה! כמה זה עולה? | тода раба! кама зэ оле? | Thank you very much! How much is it? |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Hebrew in this situation?
“שלום. מה כואב לך?” (шалом. ма коэв леха?) — Hello. What hurts? The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.