FRAZE KOJE SE KORISTE U APOTECI – PHRASES FOR THE PHARMACY
Hello dear students, how are you?
This article is very important since it can help you a loot in many situations, especially if you
have some kind of problems to adapt on the new clime conditions or new food etc. Sometimes,
you’re not going to get these kind of problems immediately, but in any case, talking in Serbian
language is more than welcome, so the pharmacist can be willing much more to help you and
give you the correct medicine (or maybe the reduce the price for a bit etc).
Just imagine this: you’ve come to Serbia (or Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro or any of the
other countries of the ex-Yugoslavia). You’ve had some excursions, visited museums, taken
pictures of the main local sights and tasted local delicacies. Everything would be fine, but
suddenly you are feeling very bad. Then you realize: you urgently need to visit a pharmacy.
Of course, in this moment, you are not going to have quite enough time to find a translator
(unless somebody who speaks the target language is not with you on that vacation). Plus, it is
much better if you can use the target language (plus, you are going to be more proud because you
were able to ask for something in the target language).
In some pharmacies, the pharmacists speak English. These pharmacies are mainly located in the
central parts of the big cities. However, if you aren’t lucky enough to find such a pharmacy, then
you’ll need to go to a Serbian speaking one and explain your problem.
Here you are some phrases and advice that will help you.
Describing the problem
Don’t ask for medical products using their names (unless you need some aspirin, of course). The
medicines you know may have different names in Serbia. It would be better to name the active
ingredient if you can remember it. If not, try and describe your problem, and the pharmacist will
give you the appropriate medication.
Here is a list of phrases for describing your medical symptoms:
- Ja imam/ moja žena (moj muž) ima/ moje dete ima…. (I have / my wife (husband) has
/ my child has…)
- Boli me glava (you can also say: imam glavobolju) - (I have a headache)
- Vrti mi se (you can also say: “manta mi se”) u glavi – I feel dizzy
- Note: “Mantati se u glavi” is an archaic phrase, so I strongly recommend you to use
“vrtiti se u glavi”
- Imam migrenu (I have a migraine)
- Ja sam pao/pala. Ja sam se povredio/povredila (you can also say: „ozledio/ozledila“,
but this is an archaic word“) . Boli me: ruka/noga/rame/koleno. (I fell down. I hurt
myself. My arm / leg / shoulder / knee hurts.)
- Curi mi nos (I have a runny nose)
- Prehladio/prehladila sam se (I have a cold)
- Boli me zub (you can also say: “imam zubobolju”) (My tooth aches me – You can
also say: “I have a toothache”)
- Boli me stomak (My stomach aches me)
- Prejeo/prejela sam se (I've overeaten)
- Imam alergiju (I have an allergy)
- Treba mi antisepsa. Posekao/posekla sam koleno \ Slomio/slomila sam koleno. (I
need an antiseptic. I’ve cut myself \ broken my knee.)
- Gorim (I have a burn)
- Imam temperaturu (I have a temperature)
- Imam grip (I have a cold)
- Kašljem (you can also say: “imam kašalj”) - (I have a cough)
- Imam kijavicu / kijam (I have a sniffle / I am sneezing)
- Imam drhtavicu (I have chills)
- Bolestan/bolesna sam (I'm sick)
- Imam stomačnih tegoba (you can also say: „imam diareu“) - (I have diarrhea)
- Imam zatvor (I’m constipated)
- Nešto mi je upalo u oko (I’ve got something in my eye)
- Boli me oko (I have a sore eye)
- Boli me zub (you can also say: “Imam zubobolju”) – My tooth aches me (I have a
toothache)
- Imam povišeni krvni pritisak (I have high blood pressure)
- Imam nizak krivni pritisak (I have low blood pressure)
Providing details
The pharmacist will ask you if you need the medicine for an adult, a child or an elderly person.
Also, you may be asked something else, like for example:
- Da li Vam je potreban lek za Vas ili Vaše dete? (Do you need the medicine for
yourself or for a child?)
- Koliko godina ima Vaše dete? (How old is the child?)
- On/ona ima tri meseca (He (she) is three months old)
- On/ona ima tri godine / pet godina (He (she) is three / five years old)
You should inform the pharmacist of the best method for you or your child to take the
medication. That’s why you can be asked something like:
- Da li hoćete tablete/ šumeće tablete/ prah za pripremu toplih napitaka / kapi ili
sirup? (Do you want tablets / effervescent tablets / dissolving powder / drops or syrup?)
If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, don’t forget to tell the pharmacist about it. This will
influence their choice of medicine:
- Trudna sam / Moja žena je trudna (I am pregnant / My wife is pregnant)
- Neophodan mi je lek za trudnu ženu (I need the medicine for a pregnant woman)
- Ja dojim (I am breast-feeding)
If you or your child have any allergies, be sure to tell the pharmacist about it:
- Alergičan/alergična sam na laktozu/ penicilin (I'm allergic to lactose / penicillin)
- Ne smem da jedem šećer (I can’t have sugar)
- Moje dete je alergično na gluten (My child is allergic to gluten)
- Moja ćerka je alergična na laktozu (My daugher is allergic to lactose)
- Moj sin je alergičan na fruktozu (My son is allergic to fructose)
Some facts:
- There is another word for “dete – child”. It is “čedo”. However, it is very archaic and
usually you can find it in books or you can hear from the older people.
- If your child is so small and so young, you can say: “klinac” – m.child / “klinka” –
f.child. However, this is very informal way, so I strongly recommend you to use only if
you talk with your family or with your friends.
Asking questions
Don’t forget that all the instructions for how to take a particular medicine are
written in the national language only. In order to avoid having to look for the
translation of the instructions on the Internet, ask the pharmacist some questions
like where and how to store the medicine, when and for how long to take it.
Here you are the examples how you can do that:
- Gde da držim lek? – Where to store the medicine?
- Kako se upotrebljava ovaj lek? - How to use this medicine?
- Koliko puta na dan je neophodno da uzimam lek? (How many times a day
should I take the medicine?)
- Uzimajte dve tablete tri puta dnevno (Take two tablets, three times a day)
- Koliko dugo bi trebalo da uzimam lek? (How long should I take the medicine
for?)
- Kad je neophodno uzeti lek: pre ili posle jela? (When should I take the
medicine: before or after meals?)
These are the possible answers:
- Čuvajte lek u frižideru (Store the medicine in a refrigerator)
- Deca mogu koristiti lek samo uz nadzor starije osobe (Children can use this
medicine only if there’s an older person to oversee them)
- Deci davati po pola kašičice na svaka dva sata (Give ½ of tsp to the kids,
every 2 hours)
- Uzimajte ga tri dana (Take it for three days)
- Popijte ovaj lek na prazan stomak ili dva sata nakon jela (Take this medicine
on an empty stomach or two hours after meals)
- Popijte ovaj lek sat vremena pre jela (Take this medicine one hour before
meals)
What if you are completely sure and you know exactly what kind of medicine
you should buy?
There are 2 ways.
- Dajte mi …. – Give me ….
For example:
- Dajte mi jedan palitreks – Give me one palitrex
- Dajte mi jedne kape za oči – Give me one eye drops.
Here I used the imperative form of the verb: “dati” for the you – formal since I donot know the
pharmacist. The informal way of this verb would be “Daj”.
+
The 1 st personal pronoun in the dative case
+
The name of the medicine
- How many medicines do you want + name of the medicine + molim Vas (please)
For example:
1 strepsils i 1 gingival, molim Vas – 1 strepsils and 1 gingival, please.
2 palitreksa i j jedno riblje ulje, molim Vas – 2 palitrexes and 1 fish oil, please
I strongly recommend you to use the second for because it’s more elegant and more
polite.
Practice:
Activity A
- Tell you are allergic to fructose
- How would you say you have a headache?
- How would provide the information (how to use some medicine)?
- How would you ask for something?
Activity B
Listen to the song and try to figure out what did she say, what was wrong with her
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNacoJAntyI
Activity B – solution
Doktori - Doctors
Boli me glava – My head aches me
boli me duša – My soul aches me
a za srce da - and about heart
i ne pričam – I will not talk
Ovih mi dana – These days
do života nije - I dont feel like living
i svi su brinu - and everyone is worried
šta mi je - what's wrong with me
Uzalud zovu doktore - They are calling doctors in vain
i hitnu pomoć - and emergency
samo ljubav ima - only love has
lekovitu moć - the power to cure
Ref. 2x
Doktori - Doctors
zna se dijagnoza - the diagnosis is known
tuge mi je prevelika doza - I have big dose of sadness
dajte mi tarepiju neku - give me some therapy
da zaboravim ime - to forget the name
tom čoveku - of that man
Bole me snovi - My dreams hurt
boli me java - Reality hurts
a tek život – and I won’t even
da ne spominjem – mention life
I ne znam da li - And i dont know
više te volim - If I love you more
il ti više - or if I'm damming
ime proklinjem - your name
Uzalud zovu doktore - They are calling doctors in vain
i hitnu pomoć - and emergency
samo ljubav ima - only love has
lekovitu moć - the power to cure
Ref. 4x
Just one note before I finish my article
I know that “Dajte mi – give me” can sound like “giving an order”, but believe me, it’s
not. Here, in Serbia, we’re not used to use “molim - please”, “molim Vas – I please you”
etc, unless we don’t need something so badly or if we need to pay something. Plus
“dajte” is already a sign that we use a formal speech. How do we know it? I’ll explain it
right now:
Daj – informal speech
Dajte – formal speech or a plural
For example:
(Ti - you) Daj mi autan – Give me autan – informal speech
Marko, Nikola I Petre, dajte mi kape za oči – Marko, Nikola and Peter, give me one eye drops
(Here it is more than obvious, I refer on “vi – you” plural since there are more people).
Dajte mi brufen, gospođo. – Give me “bruffen”, misses. -- - Here, it is more than obvious I talked
in a formal speech since I donot know the name of the woman, so because of the respect, I said
“misses – gospođa” in vocative case + I used the imperative form for “you – formal” that is
“dajte”
I hope that you have a great trip to a Serbian speaking country! I also hope you’re going
to be 100% healthy during your trip, so it’s not going to be necessary to use any of the
phrases listed above. At the end I hope you’re going to have a lot of fun during the trip.
Thank you so much for taking your time to read this article. I really hope you enjoyed a
lot.
Please, let me know what you think about this article. Write down your comments in the
“discussion” section.
5 de Agosto de 2017
