This week I’ve been doing medical interpreting training with my fantastic mentor, Michael.
With the help of my talented colleagues (and Google!) I’ve come up with a comprehensive list of common medical symptoms in English and Chinese. Originally it was a list of 66, but now I’ve added an extra 36 to get to 102! I’m sure this will be useful for learners and translating professionals alike.
I’ve also included the English verb forms for the convenience of non-native speakers of English. Sorry I didn’t have time to create the equivalent Chinese verbs.
Enjoy!
102 Medical Symptoms in English and Chinese
- Abdominal pain: experience abdominal pain; have a stomach ache (肚痛；腹痛)
- Abscess: have an abscess (脓疮)
- Bedwetting (nocturnal enuresis): wet the bed; experience nocturnal enuresis (遗尿)
- Blister: have a blister (水泡)
- Bloating: feel bloated (胃胀)
- Blood in stool (melena / hematochezia): have blood in one’s stool (便血)
- Blurred vision: have blurred vision; be unable to see clearly (视力模糊)
- Burping: burp; belch (打饱嗝)
- Cachexia (wasting syndrome): experience cachexia; suffer from wasting syndrome (恶病体质)
- Chest pain: have chest pain; feel pain in one’s chest (胸痛)
- Cold: have a cold (感冒)
- Coma: be in a coma (昏迷)
- Constipation: feel constipated (便秘)
- Coughing: cough (咳嗽)
- Coughing up blood: cough up blood; have haemoptysis (咳血)
- Convulsion: convulse; have a convulsion or spasm; experience uncontrollable shaking throughout the body (痉挛)
- Cramp: have a cramp; cramp up (抽筋)
- Cyst: have a cyst (囊肿)
- Dandruff: have dandruff (头皮屑)
- Deformity (dysmorphism): have a deformity; be deformed; have a malformation; be malformed (畸形)
- Dehydration: be dehydrated (脱水)
- Diarrhoea: have diarrhoea; have the runs [informal] (腹泻；拉肚子)
- Discharge: have discharge (分泌物)
- Distortion of sense of taste (dysgeusia): feel one’s sense of taste is distorted; experience dysgeusia (味觉障碍)
- Dizziness: feel dizzy; feel the room is spinning (晕眩)
- Double vision (diplopia): see double (重影；复视)
- Drowsiness: be drowsy; be sleepy (困倦)
- Dry mouth (xerostomia): have a dry mouth; feel one’s mouth is dry (口干舌燥)
- Excessive hunger (polyphagia): be excessively hungry; experience polyphagia (贪吃；食欲过盛)
- Excessive thirst (polydipsia): be excessively thirsty; experience polydipsia (剧渴；极渴)
- Fainting (syncope): faint; black out (晕倒；晕厥)
- Farting (flatulence): fart; have flatulence; pass wind (放屁)
- Fast heartbeat (tachycardia): have a fast heartbeat; experience tachycardia (心跳过速)
- Fatigue: be fatigued; be weary (疲劳)
- Fecal incontinence: suffer from fecal incontinence; be fecally incontinent (大便失禁)
- Fever (pyrexia): have/come down with a fever; feel feverish; experience pyrexia (发烧)
- Flu: have/come down with the flu (流感)
- Frequent urination (polyuria): urinate frequently; experience polyuria (多尿症)
- Hair loss: lose hair; experience hair loss (脱发)
- Hallucination: have/experience a hallucination; hallucinate (幻觉)
- Headache: have a headache (头疼)
- Hearing difficulties: have hearing difficulties; be hard of hearing (听觉障碍)
- Heart burn (pyrosis): have heart burn; experience acid indigestion (烧心；胃灼热)
- Hiccup: hiccup (打嗝)
- High blood pressure (hypertension): have high blood pressure; have hypertension (高血压)
- Hyperventilation: hyperventilate (换气过度)
- Hypoventilation (respiratory depression): hypoventilate (换气过低)
- Inability to smell (anosmia): be unable to smell; experience anosmia (嗅觉缺失)
- Inability to speak (aphasia): be unable to speak; experience aphasia (失语)
- Inability to urinate (urinary retention): be unable to urinate; be unable to pass water (尿潴留)
- Inability to write (dysgraphia): be unable to write; have handwriting difficulties; experience dysgraphia (书写障碍)
- Indigestion: have indigestion (消化不良)
- Inflammation: be inflamed (发炎)
- Ingrown hair: have an ingrown hair (毛发内生)
- Infertility: be infertile; experience infertility (不孕)
- Insomnia: have insomnia; have trouble sleeping; can’t get to sleep [informal] (失眠)
- Itchiness: itch; be itchy (发痒)
- Lack of muscle coordination (ataxia): be unable to coordinate one’s muscles (运动失调)
- Loss of appetite: lose one’s appetite (食欲不振)
- Low blood pressure (hypotension): have low blood pressure; have hypotension (低血压)
- Malaise: be in a malaise; be uncomfortable; feel unwell (不适；不舒服)
- Migraine: have a migraine (偏头痛)
- Muscle weakness (myasthenia): feel one’s muscles are weak; experience myasthenia (肌无力)
- Nausea: feel nauseated; feel sick [informal] (恶心)
- Nosebleed (epistaxis): have a nosebleed; bleed from the nose (流鼻血)
- Numbness: feel numb; be numb (麻木)
- Pain: be in pain; feel painful; have aches and pains (疼痛)
- Pain during sex (dyspareunia): feel pain during sex; suffer from dyspareunia (性交疼痛；功能性交媾困难)
- Palpitation: have palpitations; feel one’s heart skip a beat (心悸)
- Paralysis: be paralysed (瘫痪)
- Pelvic pain: feel pain in one’s pelvis; experience pelvic pain (盆腔痛)
- Pimples: have pimples; break out [informal] (粉刺；丘疹；青春痘)
- Pins and needles: feel pins & needles; my x is asleep [informal] (针刺感)
- Rash: have a rash; break out in a rash: (红疹)
- Runny nose: have a runny nose; one’s nose is running: (流鼻涕)
- Seizure: have a seizure; have a fit; have an epileptic episode: (突然发作)
- Shakes: shake; tremble (发抖；哆嗦)
- Shivers (rigors): shiver; shudder; have chills/rigors; feel cold (颤抖)
- Shortness of breath (dyspnea): be short of breath (气短；喘不上气来)
- Skin irritation: have a skin irritation problem (皮肤瘙痒)
- Slow heartbeat (bradycardia): have a slow heartbeat; experience bradycardia (心动过缓)
- Sneezing: sneeze (打喷嚏)
- Snoring: snore (打鼾；打呼噜)
- Soreness: feel sore; ache (酸痛)
- Stomach ache (dyspepsia): have a stomach ache; upset stomach (胃痛)
- Swallowing difficulties (dysphagia): have difficulty swallowing (吞咽困难)
- Sweat: sweat; be sweaty (出汗；盗汗)
- Swelling: swell up; be swollen (肿胀)
- Tinnitus: have tinnitus; feel one’s ears are ringing (耳鸣)
- Tiredness: be tired (累)
- Tumour: have a tumour (肿瘤)
- Twitching: have a twitch; have a tic (抽动；抽搐)
- Ulcer: have an ulcer (溃疡)
- Urinary incontinence: suffer from urinary incontinence; be urinarily incontinent (尿失禁)
- Vaginismus: be unable to engage in vaginal penetration (阴道痉挛)
- Vision impairment: have a vision impairment; be unable to see properly (视觉障碍)
- Vomiting: vomit; throw up; spew (呕吐)
- Wart: have a wart (疣)
- Weakness: feel weak (微弱)
- Weight loss: lose weight; become thin/emaciated; waste away (减重；消瘦)
- Weight gain: gain weight; put on weight (体重增加)
- Wheezing: wheeze (喘息)
Comments re accuracy and ommissions are of course welcome!
You are my mentor too, Carl.
A very comprehensive list.
I remembered that Double vision (Number 17) is usually referred to as 重影 in Chinese. My previous translation is not correct.
Thanks for the ammendment, I’ve fixed it now. 🙂
OMG………………………………………your hard work is mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmuch appreciated Carl!!!!!!!!!!!!
No worries Xiaoke. I will do more in the future so stay tuned. 🙂
Hi Carl,
Great work. Carl！
28. Heart burn (have heart burn): 伤心 It suppose to be 烧心
Oh thanks for picking that up Andrew. It’s fixed now.
Shared to both Facebook and 人人网. Surely the greatest compliment a blogger can receive.:)
Hehe, fabulous. 🙂
Can you share some light on how you go about looking up so many terms? Do you start with an English list and go from there?
Where is a good place to find specialized dictionaries about different topics?(medical,
I was lucky this time as I had the help of my mentor and my colleagues. But I also used Wikipedia A LOT too!
One good tip is to look up a Wikipedia article on the subject you are doing research on, then scroll right down to the end to where the category links are. You’ll often find that the topic you are researching is already linked into a category with many other similar topics. E.g. if you look up “schizophrenia” on Wikipedia, you’ll notice at the bottom it says: Categories: Schizophrenia | Disability | Greek loanwords | Mental illness diagnosis by DSM and ICD | Psychosis. Clicking on “Disability” and “Psychosis” will take you to a list of other respective disabilities and psychoses. This is useful when looking for vocabulary of the same general type. And, of course, Wikipedia links to its Chinese edition – in other words, you can easily find a Chinese version of most common articles by clicking on the link of the left-hand side of the page.
I also make use of print glossaries, but honestly in this day and age, Google Search and Wikipedia is mostly sufficient. If you master how to use those two tools you can get accurate translations relatively easily.
Very useful compilation, good work.
thax alot!!!! S.W.A.G!!
Very useful list!!! Much appreciated!!! =)
A few notes:
46. 突然发作 indicates a sudden attack of some unspecified affliction. Stroke is 中风 (zhòngfēng).
64. 减肥 refers to desirable/voluntary weight loss. Speaking of a medical symptom, you’d say 减重(jiǎnzhòng) or more formally 消瘦(xiāoshòu).
A few more for your list:
Asthma – 气喘(qìchuǎn) or more formally 哮喘(xiàochuǎn)
Clinical depression – 忧郁症(yōuyùzhèng) or 抑郁症(yìyùzhèng)
Diabetes – 糖尿病(tángniàobìng)
Low blood sugar – 低血糖(dīxiětáng, dīxuètáng)
Hypertension – 高血压(gāoxiěyā, gāoxuèyā)
Lovely to hear some feedback.
Is there an alternative translation you’d give for “seizure”? I thought 突然发作 covered it.
Stroke is probably a disorder and not a symptom per se. I’m no doctor, but Wikipedia categorises it as an “aging-associated” and a “cerebrovascular” disease.
All those extra things you added are probably disorders, not symptoms, though I supposed low-blood sugar and hypertension (high-blood pressure) may be considered mere symptoms in some situations. Most of these are covered in my other post (http://carlgene.com/blog/2011/07/110-diseases-disabilities-and-disorders-in-english-and-chinese). Unfortunately it seems I left out disorders relating to blood sugar and blood pressure levels – d’oh!
Thanks for reading! 🙂
Oops, sorry, not sure how I read stroke from seizure there. And I noticed your other post seconds after posting the comment. Double oops.
You could say 发作 or 发病 for seizure in general, although the former has a similar connotation as English ‘having a fit’ and both are somewhat ambiguous/euphemistic, corresponding better to English ‘episode’, ‘attack’, or ‘spell’. They could refer to asthma, heart disease, psychosis, etc.
People often specify what type of 发作/发病 they are talking about. Epileptic seizures would be 癫痫(病)发作/发病.
Ah yes I came across this idea when I was doing my research, it’s very interesting. Thanks again for contributing your wisdom. 🙂
47. Shivers (shiver; shudder; shake; have chills): 颤抖
I think you should make a distinction between “shaking” and “shivering”… “shivering” implies a sensation of cold & movement, but “shaking” implies just movement (without any sensation).
If someone had parkinson’s or something, they would be “shaking” due to nerve damage, but wouldn’t have any associated sensations (of cold).
颤抖 doesn’t imply any sensation, just movement.
Just a thought.
Very useful feedback. How do you think Chinese distinguishes between shaking and shivering? And how about shuddering? 😛
Great stuff, Carl!!! I’ve been looking for this FOREVER!
Merci beaucoup~!
I’d like to announce some corrections.
Firstly, according to Wikipedia, a convulsion (痉挛) is “a medical condition where body muscles contract and relax rapidly and repeatedly, resulting in an uncontrolled shaking of the body. Because a convulsion is often a symptom of an epileptic seizure, the term convulsion is sometimes used as a synonym for seizure. However, not all epileptic seizures lead to convulsions, and not all convulsions are caused by epileptic seizures. Convulsions are also consistent with an electric shock. Convulsions may also be referred to as “fits” in some instances.”
With this in mind, I am going to remove the reference to “fit” in “convulsion”, so as not to confuse anyone, since a “fit” is really a different thing, depsite the fact that people sometimes use them interchangeably. I will also add “experience uncontrollable shaking throughout the body” as an explanation, and “spasm” as a synonym.
In this way, we should interpret a “convulsion” as distinct from a “cramp” (抽筋) which is usually localised to one region of the body, and does not spread throughout the body like a convulsion. And this, of course, is different to a “twitch” or a “tic” (抽动；抽搐), which effects a small part of the body, and is usually temporary and relatively painless.
Moreover, a “seizure” is also known colloquially as a “fit”. I’ll add this, plus the usage note that a seizure most commonly refers to an epileptic episode.
I’ll add the medical term for “heartburn” which according to Wikipedia is “pyrosis” or “acid indigestion”. Also, “feel nauseated” is mostly commonly expressed in spoken English as “feel sick” and “have a runny nose” can also be “one’s nose is running” too.
I will make it clear the distinction between:
* shivering / shuddering / trembling / rigors (due to feeling cold); and
* shaking / tremors (involuntary movements due to disease or condition)
Of course, in daily life these two are sometimes substituted for each other, but for the sake of clarity I’ll separate these two senses in this glossary from now on.
I’ve modified “weight loss” as: Weight loss (lose weight; become thin/emaciated; waste away): 减重；消瘦. This is much more comprehensive and accurate than the original.
I’ve also added:
Abdominal pain: 肚痛；腹痛
Bedwetting / nocturnal enuresis: 遗尿
Blood in stool / melena / hematochezia: 便血
Chest pain: 胸痛
Deformity / dysmorphism: 畸形
Dehydration: 脱水
Distortion of sense of taste / dysgeusia: 味觉障碍
Excessive hunger / polyphagia: 贪吃；食欲过盛
Excessive thirst / polydipsia: 剧渴；极渴
Fast heartbeat / tachycardia: 心跳过速
Fecal incontinence: 大便失禁
Frequent urination / polyuria: 多尿症
Hearing difficulties: 听觉障碍
Hyperventilation / respiratory depression: 换气过度
Inability to smell / anosmia: 嗅觉缺失
Inability to speak / aphasia: 失语
Inability to urinate / urinary retention: 尿潴留
Inability to write / dysgraphia: 书写障碍
Infertility: 不孕
Lack of muscle coordination / ataxia: 运动失调
Malaise: 不适；不舒服
Muscle weakness / myasthenia: 肌无力
Pain / aches and pains: 疼痛
Pain during sex / dyspareunia: 性交疼痛；功能性交媾困难
Pelvic pain: 盆腔痛
Slow heartbeat / bradycardia: 心动过缓
Urinary incontinence: 尿失禁
Vaginismus: 阴道痉挛
Vision impairment: 视力障碍
Weakness: 微弱
Lastly, I’ve added “abscess” as a new symptom I forgot about, translated into Chinese as 脓疮, plus “high blood pressure” and “low blood pressure”, also known as “hypertension” (高血压) and “hypotension” (低血压) respectively.
Hi, Carl
In the list of medical terms, there is one word MOULD categorised as “common allergy”. What does it mean?
Mould is 霉菌. In American English it’s spelt “mold”. Cheers.
One more symptom:
Halitosis / bad breath: 口臭 kǒuchòu
Just added 胃灼热 wèizhuórè as another translation for “heartburn”.
Hey Carl, Thanks for the list. Will you still update this site to add more vocabulary? thanks!
What kind of vocabulary are you after?
hi,
i have found this site for complete medical symptoms
http://www.virtualmedicalcentre.com/symptoms/
Here’s one more I forgot:
Chafing: 摩擦导致的皮肤发炎
I’ve recently started volunteering in a chinese community centre and am finding your site very useful indeed. I will be running a session on basic english for doctors appointments and with your permission will be using your list of medical symptoms. I am going to break the symptoms down to different body parts and do it in a chinese – english format. Unless of course you already have something like that!
Many thanks and all the best.
really useful post.
my question:
i know in cantonese, it’s common to say “屙尿” to urinate but what is the mandarin equivalent to that? i found the following phrases in mdbg.net but was wondering which phrase is the more common:
泌尿
排尿
撒尿
便溺
解小手
or is it common to say: 我要去小便
???
thanks…
apologies, my previous post is a translation question that is not focused specifically on symptoms although having to urinate frequently is a symptom of certain diseases, like UTI and i can see asking the simple question do you have to urinate a lot, “你係咪時時要屙尿呀?” in cantonese whereas in mandarin it might be “你必須要常常去小便嗎?” (not sure if you need the 要 with the 必需 combination). knowing the vocab for polyuria (which i think can also be 尿頻的, in addition to your 多尿症) is good but sometimes asking the question, do you urinate a lot, may be more receptive to the patient than asking if they have polyuria as a symptom. so i hope you can answer my original question. thanks for listening…
Seems the word diarrhea was spelled incorrectly in your post.
But in general it’s a helpful collection.
I am not American. I am Australian, and therefore write my posts in British English, and use British spelling conventions. Does that make sense to you?