Love-Spanish.com: What Is Wrong With You?

Tuesday, 3 April 2012

What Is Wrong With You?

Introduction

This post deals with talking about health issues such as aches and pains.

SCENARIO

Imagine you are unwell and find yourself in one of the following situations:

You have an appointment at your doctor's practice. After exchanging customary greetings, the doctor says to you something like: "can I help you/ how can I help you/ what seems to be the problem/ what is wrong with you?"
You are talking to a relative, a friend or a colleague. On learning that you are not feeling well, the other person says to you something like: "what is wrong with you/ what is troubling you?"

In Spanish, the other person could choose to be less formal and say:

¿Qué te pasa?

Alternatively, he/ she could choose to be more formal and say:

¿Que le pasa (a usted)?

OUR TIP

The question is an invitation for you to say what is wrong with you. When stating what your problem is/ what is hurting, you DO NOT need to be concerned about the level of formality in the other person's question. Your main concern should be about communicating what your problem is. Perhaps what you want to say is that: