Describing your pain in a second language can be very difficult. It can even cause a lot of anxiety.

A doctor in a lab coat holding a stethoscope. Photo by Online Marketing on Unsplash

Pain can come from many sources, but imagine that you were in a minor car accident.

  • Someone drove into the back of your car.

  • You hit your head on the steering wheel.

  • You're planning what to tell the doctor.

A close shot of the driver of a car behind the wheel.

With a few specific words and phrases, you'll be able to tell the doctor about the pain you received from this accident.

Nouns and Verbs for Describing Pain

You'll need to complete this sentence: "I have a [type of pain] pain in my [body part]. The pain is [level of pain]."

But first, you'll need to describe the event that caused you pain with a few nouns and verbs.

A 3D image reading:

The most common words for describing physical pain are:

  • wound: The damaged part of the body, or the action causing the damage. The "ou" part is pronounced like the "ou" in "you."

  • injury: This means the same thing as the noun "wound".

  • injure: This is the verb form of "injury". It describes the action causing the damage.

  • hurt: The act of causing or experiencing pain.

These words can be divided into nouns and verbs.

Nouns

  • I got a bad wound from the accident.

  • I got a bad injury from the accident.

Verbs

  • The accident wounded me.

  • The accident injured me.

  • My wound/injury hurts badly.

Quiz

You hit your head in the car accident. Which sentence could you say? Select all that apply:

Types of Pain

To help the doctor understand your pain, you need to be able to describe different types of pain.

A man with injuries on his face and a bandage on his forehead. Photo by Tom Jur on Unsplash

Imagine that the car accident has given you injuries like what you see in the picture above. Your forehead and nose are the most badly injured, while you have a minor injury on your right cheek.

Which of these types of pain do you think you would be feeling?

  1. stabbing: A sharp, sudden pain that feels like being poked with something pointy.

  2. throbbing: A rhythmic, pulsing pain that often feels like it's beating.

  3. cramping: A sudden, tight pain caused by muscles contracting or tightening.

  4. shooting: A quick, sharp pain that travels through a part of the body.

  5. searing: A very intense, burning pain.

They can all be used to complete the sentence: I have a [type of pain] pain in my head. The pain is [level of pain].

Any of these words are possible, though "searing" and "cramping" are less likely.

Quiz

Use the picture and vocabulary above to help you complete this sentence: "I have a [type of pain] pain in my forehead."

Levels of Pain

You should also be able to describe how intense the pain is.

Pain can be ranked on a scale from 0 to 10. The vocabulary is ranked according to that scale, with 0 being no pain and 10 being maximum pain. Learn more by viewing the scale in detail.

  • mild = 1

  • minor = 2

  • noticeable = 3

  • moderate = 6

  • strong = 7

  • intolerable = 9

They can all be used to complete the sentence: "I have a [type of pain] pain in my head. The pain is [level of pain]."

Two injured fingers Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Imagine your fingers were also injured in the accident. Use the next quiz to test your knowledge of how to describe that pain.

Quiz

The picture above shows two fingers with some slight purple marks at their tips. What word would best describe this level of pain?

Take Action

With the vocabulary above, you're now prepared to describe various types of pain you might experience to complete the sentence: "I have a [type of pain] pain in my [body part]. The pain is [level of pain]."

A man with an injured knee rolls around on a basketball court. He looks to be in a lot of pain.

Continue to get practice with pain words and with other types of vocabulary.

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