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Unit 13 · Intermediate
Get help when you're unwell: say what hurts, ask for a doctor or pharmacy, and recognise altitude sickness on the trail.
Health and illness (lesson 13)
Public-domain audio — FSI Nepali Basic Course (via Live Lingua).
Traveller
मलाई सञ्चो छैन।
Malai sancho chhaina.
I'm not well.
Pharmacist
के भयो?
Ke bhayo?
What's wrong?
Traveller
टाउको दुख्यो र ज्वरो आयो।
Taauko dukhyo ra jwaro aayo.
I have a headache and a fever.
Pharmacist
कति दिन भयो?
Kati din bhayo?
For how many days?
Traveller
दुई दिन। औषधि छ?
Dui din. Aushadhi chha?
Two days. Do you have medicine?
Pharmacist
छ, यो खानुहोस्।
Chha, yo khaanuhos.
Yes, take this.
Malai sancho chhaina = "I'm not well" (literally "to-me wellness isn't"). For a specific pain: [body part] dukhyo / dukhchha — Taauko dukhchha ("my head hurts"), Pet dukhyo ("my stomach hurt").
Notice malai ("to me"): in Nepali, feelings and ailments attach to you with -lai, not with "I have".
Ke bhayo? ("what happened?") is the everyday "what's wrong?". Answer with the symptom: Jwaro aayo ("a fever came"), Rughaa laagyo ("I caught a cold"), Vamita bhayo ("I felt sick / vomited").
High on a trek you'll hear lek laagyo ("got altitude sickness"). If you feel a bad headache, nausea and dizziness while climbing, the rule is to descend: Tala jharnu parchha ("must go down"). Worth knowing before Everest or Annapurna.
1. Say "I'm not well."
मलाई सञ्चो छैन। (Malai sancho chhaina.)
2. Say "I have a headache."
टाउको दुख्यो। (Taauko dukhyo.)
3. Ask "Do you have medicine?"
औषधि छ? (Aushadhi chha?)
4. Ask "What's wrong?"
के भयो? (Ke bhayo?)