Portuguese Doctor Appointment Dialogue and Practice
Situation Overview
You have a routine doctor's appointment at a clinic in a Portuguese-speaking city. You need to check in, give your name and appointment time, describe symptoms, say when they started, answer questions about medication, understand basic exam instructions, and ask about follow-up care. The dialogue uses everyday Brazilian Portuguese with polite você forms. In Portugal, you may hear marcação for appointment, ficha for registration record, and paracetamol is still widely understood.
Simple Dialogue
| Speaker | Portuguese | English |
|---|---|---|
| Paciente | Bom dia. Tenho uma consulta com a doutora Silva. | Good morning. I have an appointment with Doctor Silva. |
| Recepcionista | Bom dia. Qual é o seu nome? | Good morning. What is your name? |
| Paciente | Meu nome é Marina Costa. | My name is Marina Costa. |
| Recepcionista | Pode aguardar um momento, por favor. | Please wait a moment. |
| Médica | Olá, Marina. O que você está sentindo? | Hello, Marina. What are you feeling? |
| Paciente | Estou com dor de garganta e febre. | I have a sore throat and a fever. |
| Médica | Desde quando? | Since when? |
| Paciente | Desde ontem à noite. | Since last night. |
| Médica | Vou examinar sua garganta. | I am going to examine your throat. |
Natural Dialogue
| Speaker | Portuguese | English | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paciente | Bom dia. Tenho consulta às nove e meia com a doutora Silva. | Good morning. I have a nine-thirty appointment with Doctor Silva. | Tenho consulta is the standard way to say you have a medical appointment. |
| Recepcionista | Bom dia. Pode me dizer seu nome completo e sua data de nascimento? | Good morning. Can you tell me your full name and date of birth? | Reception often confirms identity before the appointment. |
| Paciente | Claro. Marina Costa, vinte e três de abril de mil novecentos noventa e dois. | Of course. Marina Costa, April twenty-third, nineteen ninety-two. | A concise answer is normal at the front desk. |
| Recepcionista | Obrigada. A senhora pode aguardar na sala de espera. | Thank you. You can wait in the waiting room. | A senhora is a respectful form of address for an adult woman. |
| Médica | Marina? Pode entrar. O que trouxe você aqui hoje? | Marina? You can come in. What brought you here today? | A natural doctor's opening question about the reason for the visit. |
| Paciente | Desde ontem à noite estou com dor de garganta e hoje acordei com febre. | Since last night I have had a sore throat, and today I woke up with a fever. | Estou com... is common for temporary symptoms. |
| Médica | Entendi. Você está com tosse ou falta de ar? | I see. Do you have a cough or shortness of breath? | The doctor checks related symptoms and possible warning signs. |
| Paciente | Tosse, um pouco, mas não estou com falta de ar. | A cough, a little, but I do not have shortness of breath. | A short answer separates mild symptoms from more urgent ones. |
| Médica | Você mediu a temperatura em casa? | Did you take your temperature at home? | Medir a temperatura means to take or measure temperature. |
| Paciente | Medi, sim. Estava trinta e oito graus. | Yes, I did. It was thirty-eight degrees. | Portuguese-speaking countries use Celsius for fever and weather. |
| Médica | Tomou algum remédio? | Did you take any medicine? | A common medical question before treatment advice. |
| Paciente | Tomei paracetamol para a febre, mas só uma vez. | I took acetaminophen for the fever, but only once. | Give the medication and how often you took it. |
| Médica | Certo. Vou medir sua pressão e olhar sua garganta. | Okay. I am going to take your blood pressure and look at your throat. | The doctor explains the next exam steps. |
| Paciente | Tudo bem. Preciso tirar a máscara? | Okay. Do I need to take off my mask? | A practical question before a throat exam. |
| Médica | Sim, só por um instante. Abra a boca e diga ah. | Yes, just for a moment. Open your mouth and say ah. | Abra is a polite command used in exam instructions. |
| Médica | Parece uma infecção leve. Descanse, beba bastante água e volte se piorar. | It looks like a mild infection. Rest, drink plenty of water, and come back if it gets worse. | The doctor gives care instructions and a warning sign. |
| Paciente | Obrigada. Preciso marcar retorno ou só ligar se eu continuar com febre? | Thank you. Do I need to schedule a follow-up, or just call if I still have a fever? | Marcar retorno means to schedule a follow-up visit. |
Key Phrases
| Phrase | Meaning | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Tenho uma consulta com... | I have an appointment with... | Checking in at reception. |
| Qual é o seu nome? | What is your name? | Understanding a basic front-desk question. |
| Data de nascimento | Date of birth | Confirming your patient record. |
| O que você está sentindo? | What are you feeling? | Recognizing the doctor's first symptom question. |
| Estou com dor de garganta. | I have a sore throat. | Describing one common symptom. |
| Estou com febre. | I have a fever. | Saying you have a temporary symptom. |
| Desde ontem à noite. | Since last night. | Saying when symptoms started. |
| Você está com tosse? | Do you have a cough? | Understanding a symptom question from a clinician. |
| Tomei paracetamol. | I took acetaminophen. | Explaining what medicine you already used. |
| Vou medir sua pressão. | I am going to take your blood pressure. | Understanding a basic exam instruction. |
| Abra a boca. | Open your mouth. | Following a throat exam instruction. |
| Volte se piorar. | Come back if it gets worse. | Understanding follow-up advice. |
Grammar in Context
The clinic dialogue uses estar com for temporary physical states: estou com dor de garganta, estou com febre, and não estou com falta de ar. This pattern is very common in Brazilian Portuguese for symptoms that you have right now.
For pain in a specific body part, Portuguese often uses dor de: dor de garganta, dor de cabeça, dor de estômago, and dor nas costas. You can also say minha garganta está doendo, but estou com dor de garganta is a simple and natural clinic phrase.
The doctor gives polite instructions with command forms: abra a boca, descanse, beba bastante água, and volte se piorar. These forms match respectful professional speech and are common in medical appointments.
Speaking Practice
| Goal | Model | Your turn |
|---|---|---|
| Check in for an appointment | Tenho consulta às nove e meia com a doutora Silva. | Change the time to eight fifteen, ten o'clock, and two in the afternoon. |
| Give your name | Meu nome é Marina Costa. | Say your own full name, then spell your last name slowly. |
| Say your date of birth | Nasci em vinte e três de abril de mil novecentos noventa e dois. | Say your own birth date, then a family member's birth date. |
| Describe a symptom | Estou com dor de garganta. | Replace sore throat with headache, stomachache, back pain, and fever. |
| Say when it started | Desde ontem à noite. | Change it to since this morning, since Monday, and for three days. |
| Answer symptom questions | Estou com tosse, mas não estou com falta de ar. | Say you have a cough, fever, nausea, or no fever. |
| Talk about medication | Tomei paracetamol para a febre. | Say that you took medicine for pain, fever, allergies, or nothing yet. |
| Ask about follow-up | Preciso marcar retorno? | Ask whether you need a follow-up, a prescription, a test, or a sick note. |