When you need this
You wake up with a scratchy throat, and you still have a meeting at nine and a friend's birthday dinner at seven. Sooner or later you'll have to tell someone you're sick: your manager, a coworker, the receptionist at a clinic, a friend who wants to know why you canceled.
Most of the time people keep it short and a little vague. "I'm not feeling well" is the polite default. It tells people enough without sharing details nobody asked for. "I'm sick" is fine too, and in American English "sick" covers everything from a cold to the flu. British speakers often say "ill," but you'll hear "sick" far more in the US.
Notice the tenses. The present perfect does a lot of work here: "I've had a headache since this morning," "I've been coughing all night." It connects the problem to right now, which is what the listener wants to know. And "coming down with something" is how people describe the first day, when they aren't really sick yet but can feel it starting.
Phrases
the polite, general way to say you're sick
softer still; you're a little off, not in bed
you feel the first signs of getting sick
a runny nose, a cough, a tired head
it hurts when you swallow or talk
present perfect: it started earlier and hasn't stopped
you feel hot and shaky
tired and weak, often before or after a cold
the room seems to move
your stomach feels bad, usually after food
phone or message work to say you won't come in
you're recovering, not fully better yet
the reply when people ask later
you've booked a time to see a doctor
Say it out loud
Tap a sentence to hear it. Say it after the voice.
Practice · 3 min
Say how you feel. Situation on the left, one natural line on the right.
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
Say it today
Use it once in a real conversation before tomorrow. Out loud counts, even to yourself.