TrendSpeak English

At the hospital

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Dialogue

Alice: Bob! What happened to your arm?! It looks like it wrestled a porcupine!

Bob: Alice! Oh, just a little… gardening incident. Don’t worry, the porcupine is fine.

Alice: Gardening? Did a rogue tomato attack you, or did you try to hug a rose bush without gloves?

Bob: Worse. I attempted to prune the giant cactus in my yard. With my bare hands. I thought it would be ‘manly’.

Alice: (Biting back laughter) Oh, Bob! You are absolutely unbelievable! What did the doctor say?

Bob: He mostly just shook his head and gave me a very stern lecture about gardening safety. And then he picked out about fifty tiny spines.

Alice: Are you okay, though? Did they give you any special medicine or a giant “Do Not Prune Cacti” sign?

Bob: Just a few bandages and some antiseptic cream. And yes, a strong suggestion to buy proper gardening gloves. No sign, thankfully.

Alice: So, you’re at the hospital because you lost a fight with a plant? That’s a story for the grandkids.

Bob: Pretty much! And they made me fill out so many forms. My hand was already tired from the cactus, now it’s tired from writing.

Alice: That’s typical hospital procedure. They love their paperwork more than doctors love coffee.

Bob: And the waiting room music… let’s just say it made the cactus spines feel pleasant by comparison.

Alice: Well, at least you’re not seriously hurt, Bob. And you learned a valuable lesson, right?

Bob: Absolutely. Never underestimate a cactus. Or the power of a good pair of gloves.

Alice: Next time, call me. I’ll lend you my superhero, impenetrable gardening gloves. They even come with a cape.

Current Situation

Going to the hospital can be for many reasons, from a small injury like Bob’s cactus incident to more serious emergencies. When you arrive, especially for something unexpected, you’ll often go to the Emergency Room (ER) or a walk-in clinic. You usually need to check in at the reception desk and fill out forms with your personal details and medical history. Then, you’ll wait in a waiting room until a doctor or nurse can see you. They will ask you “What happened?” and “How do you feel?” to understand your situation. They might give you a bandage, some medicine, or schedule a follow-up appointment. It’s important to be clear and honest about your symptoms so they can give you the best care!

Key Phrases

  • What happened?: Used to ask about a past event or incident. Your car hit a tree! What happened?
  • Are you okay?: Used to ask about someone’s well-being or if they are hurt. You fell down the stairs. Are you okay?
  • I need to see a doctor.: Expresses the necessity of medical attention. My stomach hurts very much. I need to see a doctor.
  • Waiting room: The area where patients wait to be seen by a doctor or nurse. We waited in the waiting room for an hour before the nurse called my name.
  • Fill out forms: To write necessary information on official documents. At the hospital, you always have to fill out forms with your personal details.
  • Get a bandage: To have a strip of material applied to a wound to protect it. The nurse helped me get a bandage for my small cut.
  • Take medicine: To consume drugs or pills to treat an illness or pain. I have a fever, so I need to take medicine.

Grammar Points

1. Simple Past Tense

We use the Simple Past Tense to talk about actions that started and finished in the past. It’s very common when describing events that already occurred, like a trip to the hospital!

  • Regular verbs: Add -ed to the base form (e.g., happen → happened, ask → asked, walk → walked).
  • Irregular verbs: Their forms change in different ways (e.g., say → said, go → went, see → saw, feel → felt, try → tried).

Examples from the dialogue:

  • “What happened to your arm?” (from ‘happen’)
  • “I attempted to prune the giant cactus.” (from ‘attempt’)
  • “He mostly just shook his head and gave me a very stern lecture.” (from ‘shake’ and ‘give’)
  • “They made me fill out so many forms.” (from ‘make’)

2. The Verb “To Be” (Present and Past)

The verb “to be” is one of the most important verbs in English! We use it to describe states of being, characteristics, and locations. It changes form depending on the subject and the tense.

Present Tense:

  • I am
  • You/We/They are
  • He/She/It is

Past Tense:

  • I/He/She/It was
  • You/We/They were

Examples from the dialogue:

  • “It looks like it wrestled a porcupine!” (present – describing current appearance. Note: ‘looks’ here is present simple, not ‘to be’, but it’s about a current state). Let’s use a better “to be” example from dialogue.
  • “You are absolutely unbelievable!” (present – describing Alice’s opinion of Bob)
  • “Are you okay, though?” (present – asking about current well-being)
  • “My hand was already tired from the cactus…” (past – describing a past state)

Practice Exercises

Exercise 1: Match the words to their meaning.

  1. Hospital a. A person who helps sick people.
  2. Doctor b. To write information.
  3. Waiting room c. A building for sick people.
  4. Fill out forms d. A strip of material for a wound.
  5. Bandage e. The area where you wait.

Exercise 2: Complete the sentences using words from the box.

(doctor, okay, happened, medicine, forms, waiting room)

  1. A: What _________ to your hand?
  2. B: I cut it. I need to see a _________.
  3. A: Are you _________?
  4. B: Yes, but I had to fill out many _________.
  5. A: Did you get any _________?
  6. B: No, just a small bandage. I waited a long time in the _________.

Exercise 3: Choose the correct verb form (Simple Past or “to be”).

  1. Yesterday, I (go / went) to the park.
  2. He (is / was) sick last week.
  3. They (are / were) happy now.
  4. We (try / tried) to call you.
  5. Alice (is / was) very funny in the dialogue.

Answers

Exercise 1:

  1. Hospital: c. A building for sick people.
  2. Doctor: a. A person who helps sick people.
  3. Waiting room: e. The area where you wait.
  4. Fill out forms: b. To write information.
  5. Bandage: d. A strip of material for a wound.

Exercise 2:

  1. A: What happened to your hand?
  2. B: I cut it. I need to see a doctor.
  3. A: Are you okay?
  4. B: Yes, but I had to fill out many forms.
  5. A: Did you get any medicine?
  6. B: No, just a small bandage. I waited a long time in the waiting room.

Exercise 3:

  1. Yesterday, I went to the park.
  2. He was sick last week.
  3. They are happy now.
  4. We tried to call you.
  5. Alice was very funny in the dialogue.

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