Like in English, wedding vows in Spanish mention loving a person en la salud y en la enfermedad (literally "in health and in sickness"), both of which it would behoove us to learn to converse about. 

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Asking Someone How They Feel

In order to ask someone how he or she feels, you might use the verb sentirse (to feel). Let's take a look:

¿Cómo te sientes, mi amor?

How are you feeling, my love?

Caption 18, Confidencial: Asesino al Volante Capítulo 3 - Part 6

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While this is the version with tú (the informal "you"), the one with usted (the formal "you") would be: ¿Cómo se siente? Some different ways of asking how someone is/how they are feeling with both tú and usted include:

¿Cómo te encuentras/se encuentra? (How are you feeling?/How do you feel?)

 

¿Cómo estás/está? (How are you?)

Conveying How You Feel

If you feel "fine" or "good" or "well," you might answer with Estoy bien (I'm well/fine), Me siento bien (I feel well/fine), or Me encuentro bien (I feel/am well/fine). But, what if you don't feel well? You might start with the negative versions of these utterances, such as No estoy bien (I'm not well), etc. Let's take a look:

porque no me encuentro bien. 

because I don't feel well.

Caption 10, Ariana Cita médica

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No me siento muy bien, estoy un poco enferma. 

I'm not feeling too well, I'm a bit sick.

Caption 14, Disputas La Extraña Dama - Part 12

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¿Qué te pasa?

If someone says they aren't feeling well, you might ask that person: ¿Qué te pasa (a ti)? or ¿Qué le pasa (a usted )? (which might be translated as "What's wrong (with you)?" or "What's going on (with you)?) or the similar-meaning ¿Qué tiene(s)? (literally "What do you have?"). 

One way to answer this question might be to say what "hurts" (you), which is expressed with the verb doler (to hurt) plus an indirect object pronoun. Note that this verb falls into the category of verbs like gustar (to like), where there is a reversal in the traditional roles of the subject and object. Let's see a couple of examples:

Me duele la garganta,

My throat hurts,

Caption 11, Ariana Cita médica

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y ahora me duele mucho la cabeza.

and now my head hurts a lot.

Caption 31, Clara explica El cuerpo

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Another way to talk about pain in your head or some other body part (if you need to review the parts of the body in Spanish, check out this lesson on Body Parts in Spanish from Head to Toe or the video Clara explica- El cuerpo) would be with the noun el dolor (the ache/pain), as in the following caption:

y otro tipo de dolor de cabeza que es el que explicábamos como migraña,

and another kind of headache which is the one that we were explaining as a migraine,

Caption 16, Los médicos explican Las migrañas

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And, if you want to talk about injuring those body parts in a more specific way, the following reflexive verbs might come in handy:

lastimarse: to hurt get hurt/injured or  hurt/ injure oneself

romperse: to break 

torcerse: to twist/sprain 

esguinzarse: to sprain

hacerse un esguince: to sprain

lesionarse: to get wounded/injured

Let's take a look at some examples in context:

Es... también me lastimé una rodilla, este... desgraciadamente. 

The thing is that I also hurt my knee, um... unfortunately.

Captions 29-30, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Manuel Orozco Sánchez - Part 1

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Las enfermedades

Although the noun la enfermedad can mean "disease" in the sense of a more serious issue, it can also refer to less serious maladies. Let's take a look at the Spanish names for a few of these:

La tos puede ser el resultado de un resfriado, una gripe,

The cough could be the result of a cold, a flu,

Caption 10, Cita médica La cita médica de Cleer - Part 2

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Although one way to say you "have a cold" is Estoy resfriado, the verb tener is typically used to say you "have" such sicknesses, as in the following captions: 

Tengo un resfriado.

I have a cold.

Caption 24, Extr@: Extra en español Ep. 2: Sam va de compras - Part 1

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Tengo fiebre.

I have a fever.

Caption 12, Raquel Visitar al Médico

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cuando te duele la cabeza, tenés unas náuseas que te da asco todo.

when your head hurts, you have nausea that makes everything disgusting to you.

Caption 73, Muñeca Brava 43 La reunión - Part 5

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Additional things that you might "have" would be vómitos (vomiting), mareos (dizziness), or diarrea (diarrhea).

Sentirse mejor (Feeling better)

In order to help you sentirte mejor (feel better), the doctor might prescribe you some medicine. The verb for "to prescribe" is recetar, while the noun la receta means "the prescription" (it also means "recipe"). 

De mi parte, le voy a recetar Complejo B

As for me, I'm going to prescribe to you Complex B

Caption 77, Los médicos explican Diagnóstico: nervios y estrés

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Now, let's look at a few different ways to talk about "medicine":

te tomás tu remedio y te espero abajo.

take your medicine and I'll wait for you downstairs.

Caption 44, Muñeca Brava 48 - Soluciones - Part 1

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La medicina puede ayudar, puede colaborar,

Medicine can help, can contribute,

Caption 51, Muñeca Brava 8 Trampas - Part 9

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También le recetaré un jarabe.

I will also prescribe you a syrup.

Caption 26, Cita médica La cita médica de Cleer - Part 2

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However, the best medicine of all might be good old-fashioned rest:

Adicional, lo que yo le voy a recomendar es a descansar.

Additionally, what I am going to recommend to you is to rest.

Caption 73, Los médicos explican Diagnóstico: nervios y estrés

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We hope that this lesson has provided a good introduction to talking about how you feel, some various ailments, and some remedies for them, and we urge you to check out our supplemental materials such as the videos Visitar al médico (Visiting the Doctor) and La cita médica de Cleer (Cleer's Medical Appointment) as well as our series Los médicos explican (The Doctors Explain). And don't forget to leave us your suggestions and comments. 

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Should you use mucho or muy? Do you know how to say the Spanish words muy and mucho in English? What is the difference between muy vs. mucho in Spanish? 

Definitions of Muy vs. Mucho

Simply put, muy in English would be "very" or "really," while mucho in English means "many," "much," or "a lot." However, as these words can wear muchos sombreros (a lot of hats), muy vs. mucho can be un concepto muy difícil (a very difficult concept) for many English speakers. 

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Muy + Adjective

When muy is accompanied by an adjective, the adjective that modifies the noun must agree with that noun in terms of gender and number. The "good news," however, is that the word muy itself always stays the same, regardless of whether the noun it modifies is singular or plural or masculine or feminine. Let's take a look:

es un artista plástico español muy reconocido.

is a very famous fine art artist.

Caption 14, Amaya - Vínculo: un mural muy especial

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Kristen, por ejemplo, tú has dicho, muy rápidamente,

Kristen, for example, you've said, very quickly,

Caption 11, Clase Aula Azul - Pedir deseos

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When constructing or understanding sentences with muy in Spanish, how will you know whether you are contending with an adjective or an adverb? When you see a word that ends with the suffix -mente (equivalent to -ly in English), as in the examples above, you can be sure you have an adverb. However, as not all adverbs take this form and some words can function as either adjectives or adverbs, depending upon the context, it can sometimes be tough to tell the difference. Let's take a look at an example with the word rápido, which may be used as an adverb in lieu of rápidamente:

​porque lo hacen muy rápido. 

because they do it very quickly.

Caption 46, Animales en familia - Señales de calma y cosquillas en los perros

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Like the English word "fast," rápido can function as an adjective when describing a noun (e.g. un carro rápido/a fast car) or an adverb when describing an action (el carro va rápido/the car goes fast) to talk about something that happens "fast" or "quickly." The tricky aspect of this is that, while rápido would need to agree in terms of gender and number when employed as an adjective (e.g. unos carros rápidos), as an adverb, it remains the same (in its masculine singular form) regardless of the number of people or objects performing the action. Let's see one more example:

Vamos a trabajar muy fuerte.

We're going to work very hard.

Caption 29, Documental de Alejandro Fernandez - Viento A Favor

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Note that as always, the word muy is unchanging, and because fuerte (strong, hard, etc.) works as an adverb here, it remains unchanged, in its singular form, as well. Were it an adjective, on the other hand, gender and number would need to be taken into account, as in the example "Somos muy fuertes" (We are very strong). 

Mucho as an Adjective: Mucho + Noun

Moving on to the word mucho in Spanish, taking into account what we have learned thus far regarding adjectives and adverbs, let's examine how this word can function as either of these parts of speech. To start, when mucho functions as an adjective, it must agree in terms of number and gender with the noun it modifies. Let's look:

La verdad es que yo he tenido muchos perros,

The truth is that I've had many dogs,

Caption 50, Tu Voz Estéreo - Laura

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As you can see in these examples that employ masculine singular/plural and feminine singular/plural nouns, the form mucho takes (mucho, muchos, mucha, or muchas) changes in accordance with the noun it modifies. 

Mucho as an Adverb: Mucho + Verb

In contrast, when mucho functions as an adverb, modifying a verb, it is always mucho in the singular/masculine form, and the gender/quantity of the noun or verb has no effect on it. Let's look at some examples:

¿Se utiliza mucho el ajo en los platos peruanos?

Is garlic used a lot in Peruvian dishes?

Caption 19, Recetas de cocina - Papa a la Huancaína

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Estos ejercicios ayudan mucho

These exercises really help

Caption 59, Bienestar con Elizabeth - Relajación

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Me gusta mucho este parque.

I really like this park.

Caption 9, Conversaciones en el parque - Cap. 5: Me gusta mucho este parque.

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Sí, me gustan mucho las uvas.

Yes, I like grapes a lot.

Caption 21, Conversaciones en el parque - Cap. 5: Me gusta mucho este parque.

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Mucho/os/a/as as a Pronoun

To conclude our discussion on muy vs. mucho, note that the word mucho and its corresponding feminine/plural alternatives can be used as pronouns to replace nouns that have been mentioned or implied. Notice that the pronoun forms of mucho must agree in gender and number with the nouns they replace, as follows:

¿Se encuentran aquí buenas cositas o no,

Can you find good stuff here or not,

buenas gangas? -Sí, sí, sí. -¿Sí? -Muchas. 

good bargains? -Yes, yes, yes. -Yes? -Many.

Captions 102-103, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos - Part 14

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While you can clearly see in the first two examples that the word mucho changes forms (to mucha and muchas) to agree with the feminine singular and plural nouns it replaces (cositas/gangas and gente), the third example is notable because the noun being replaced by the masculine plural form muchos is not immediately apparent. However, since the conversation in question, which began several captions earlier, involves cars (the masculine plural noun, los coches), the masculine plural form muchos must be utilized to express the idea of "many" in this context. 

We hope that this lesson has helped to clarify the difference between muy vs. mucho in Spanish since sus muchos usos y matices pueden resultar muy difíciles (their many uses and nuances can be very difficult) for English speakers. We welcome any insight you might have on mucho vs. muy in Spanish, and don't forget to leave us your suggestions and comments. 

Let's talk about pronouns. In English, when we talk with someone we use the second person singular pronoun ‘you’. In Spanish, we have three different options for that same pronoun: tú, usted and vos. Which one we use depends on things like the relationship that we have with the person we are talking to or the place where we are. Generally speaking, we use usted when we want to talk in a more respectful way with someone:

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¿Usted qué... qué me recomienda, doctor?

What do you... what do you recommend to me, Doctor?

Caption 14, Los médicos explican - El tratamiento de las fracturas

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However, if you are following the Colombian series Los Años Maravillosos, you have probably noticed that people usually use usted even when talking with family members or close friends. Why? That’s just how people speak in Bogota, Colombia:

¿Y a usted qué le pasa, mi hijito?

And what's going on with you, my little boy?

Caption 35, Los Años Maravillosos - Capítulo 1

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Regardless of its use, there is something quite unique about using usted:  we conjugate usted as we would conjugate él (he) or ella (she):

Él trabaja entre las nueve de la mañana

He works between nine in the morning

Caption 48, La casa - De Chus

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¿Dónde trabaja usted?

Where do you work?

Caption 9, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos 

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As you can see in the captions above, the conjugation of the verb trabajar (to work) with él (he) and usted (you) is exactly the same (trabaja), something that doesn’t occur with tú and vos:

Tú trabajas | You work
Vos trabajás | You work
Él/Ella/Usted Trabaja | He/She/You work

To wrap things up, we use usted as a second person singular pronoun. However, we conjugate it as a third person singular pronoun!
 
And don’t forget that this also occurs with the plural form ustedes (you all), which we conjugate as the third person plural pronoun ellos/ellas (they). Notice how ustedes and ellos share the same conjugation of the verb saber (to know) in the following captions:

Toda la vida he estado en el PAN, como ustedes saben, y he estado muy contento.

All my life I have been in PAN, as you know, and I have been very happy.

Caption 37, Felipe Calderón - Publicidad

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Ellos saben de los sitios que son hábitat de reproducción,

They know about the places that are reproduction habitats,

Caption 31, Instinto de conservación - Parque Tayrona

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That's it for now. If you want to learn more things about the use of tú, usted, and vos, make sure to check out our series about Tuteo, Ustedeo y Voseo. And don’t forget to send us your feedback and suggestions.

Learning how to combine prepositions such as a, ante, con, de, desde, en, para, por, and sin (among others) is key to being able to build complex ideas in Spanish. For example, you can use them to introduce a subordinate clause in a very simple sentence:
 

Voy al banco a cambiar un cheque (I go/I'm going to the bank to cash a check)
Voy al banco para cambiar un cheque (I go/I'm going to the bank to cash a check)
Voy al banco con María (I go/I'm going to the bank with Maria)
Voy al banco de la esquina (I go/I'm going to the bank on the corner of the street)
Voy al banco desde temprano (I go/I'm going to the bank early in the morning)
Voy al banco en carro (I go/I'm going to the bank by car)
Voy al banco por unos documentos (I go/I'm going to the bank to get some documents)
Voy al banco según me indicaste (I go/I'm going to the bank as you told me to)
Voy al banco sin mi paraguas (I go/I'm going to the bank without my umbrella)

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You can also combine prepositions with other particles in Spanish. One interesting case is the combination of prepositions with the word que. Let's focus on the combination a que (entirely different from a qué), which is very useful! Here's an example:

Pues yo te invito a que lo pruebes.

Well, I invite you to try it.

Caption 87, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa - Part 6

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Another way to express the same idea in Spanish is te invito a probarlo (I invite you to try it). Do you notice the difference? The preposition a introduces a verb in the infinitive (probarlo) while the combination a que introduces a clause with a conjugated verb (pruebes).
 
Another example/meaning of a que is:

Mi padre era muy reacio a que [yo] las tocara.

My father was very reluctant for me to touch them.

Caption 57, 75 minutos - Del campo a la mesa - Part 10

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 As you can see, English has a different, more convoluted way to express this idea of being reluctant about an action performed by a third person. But the Spanish a que construction can be combined with a conjugated verb in the subjunctive. If you were wondering, you can't express this precise idea in Spanish using the infinitive. But if the subjunctive is still hard for you, try something simple and depersonalized: Mi padre era muy reacio a tocarlas (My father was very reluctant to touch them).
 
The phrase a que can be used to answer someone who's asking an a qué question:
 

¿A qué viniste? -Vine a que me pagues.
What did you come for? - I came for you to pay me.

Finally, there's an expression using the combination a que that you will surely like. It's used to confirm that we are on the same page with somebody, that we agree about something:
 

¿Tú la cuidas bien a que sí?

You take good care of her, right?

Caption 23, 75 minutos - Gangas para ricos - Part 16

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In Spanish this expression a que sí  is equivalent and very similar to ¿verdad que sí? (literally "is it true that yes?"). It can also be used in the negative form:
 

¿A que no adivinas dónde estuvimos?

I bet you won't guess where we were?

Caption 9, Guillermina y Candelario - Carrera de Relevos

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You can think of this expression as a short version of the phrase apuesto a que no (I bet that you don't...), which is also used in positive terms: apuesto a que sí (I bet you do...), by the way. It's just much more common to use the negative form to stress the daring nature of this expression. But it's perfectly correct to say: ¡A que sí puedes. Inténtalo! (I bet you can. Try!).
 

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That's all for now! We'll explore more of these combinations in future lessons. Don’t forget to send your feedback and suggestions to newsletter@yabla.com.