At the Hospital / ER
These phrases will help you navigate a hospital visit or an emergency room in a French-speaking country, from explaining your symptoms to handling the registration process.
Key Phrases
Excusez-moi, c'est une urgence. Mon mari vient de faire un malaise et ne se réveille plus.
politeExcuse me, it's an emergency. My husband just fainted and is not waking up.
Use the expression 'faire un malaise' for fainting or suddenly losing consciousness.
C'est une urgence, mon pote a vraiment du mal à respirer depuis tout à l'heure !
casualIt's an emergency, my buddy is having a really hard time breathing!
'Pote' is a casual word for friend; you would switch to 'ami' in formal situations.
Je courais dans la rue quand je suis tombé, et je crois que mon bras est cassé.
neutralI was running in the street when I fell, and I think my arm is broken.
A natural way to describe an accident, contrasting the background action (imparfait) with the sudden event (passé composé).
Je vous donne ma carte d'identité et les documents de mon assurance maladie internationale.
politeI am giving you my ID card and my international health insurance documents.
Helpful if you are a traveler presenting foreign insurance to the administrative staff.
Tenez, voici ma carte Vitale et la carte de ma mutuelle pour l'enregistrement.
neutralHere you go, here is my Vitale card and my supplemental insurance card for registration.
'Carte Vitale' is the French national healthcare card, and 'mutuelle' is private top-up insurance.
Est-ce que vous pourriez me dire à peu près combien de temps il faudra attendre ?
politeCould you tell me roughly how long the wait will be?
A polite way to ask staff about the wait, using the future tense 'faudra'.
Vous savez s'il y a encore beaucoup d'attente pour voir un médecin aujourd'hui ?
casualDo you know if there's still a long wait to see a doctor today?
A direct, everyday spoken form; dropping the inverted question structure is standard in spoken French.
J'ai une douleur très forte dans la poitrine qui ne passe pas depuis ce matin.
neutralI have a very severe pain in my chest that hasn't gone away since this morning.
Uses the relative pronoun 'qui' to naturally connect the symptom to its duration.
Il faut absolument que le médecin sache que je suis allergique à certains antibiotiques.
neutralThe doctor absolutely needs to know that I am allergic to certain antibiotics.
Uses the subjunctive 'sache' after the common trigger 'il faut que' (it is necessary that).
Je voulais vous dire que je prends des médicaments tous les jours pour la tension.
neutralI wanted to tell you that I take medication every day for blood pressure.
French speakers usually just say 'la tension' rather than 'la tension artérielle' for blood pressure.
Où est-ce qu'on doit aller avec ces papiers, on s'assoit dans la salle d'attente principale ?
neutralWhere do we need to go with these papers, do we sit in the main waiting room?
Using 'on' is the most natural and common way to say 'we' in spoken French.
Je ne me sens vraiment pas bien du tout, je crois que je vais m'évanouir.
casualI really don't feel well at all, I think I'm going to pass out.
Use 's'évanouir' for passing out or fainting. The extreme feeling is amplified by 'du tout'.