In this lesson, we practice answering difficult questions when patients require hospitalization for COVID19 in Spanish (cuando el paciente necesita ingresar al hospital o la unidad de cuidados intensivos). The questions and responses in this lesson are adapted from an invaluable communication guide provided by VitalTalk.org.

(These show notes are adapted for Apple Podcasts. For interactive show notes with navigation box and timestamps go to https://docmolly.com/vital-talk-on-hospitalization-for-covid19.)

Check out and share our free lessons covering Spanish for COVID 19: https://docmolly.com/spanish-for-covid-19/

We cover a lot of advanced grammar in this one, so I have referenced related grammar lessons throughout these show notes. You'll also notice we use the future tense in many of the responses. Therefore, I hope this lesson really helps to boost your confidence when communicating in Spanish.

Special thanks to: Elizabeth Cortez, my Spanish teacher at the San Pedro Spanish School in Guatemala, my dear friend, Sonja Um Siri, who reviews each audio lesson prior to publication and to Erin Gaines who proofreads the show notes.

LEVEL - ADVANCED

Esperando los resultados
1:09
¿Esto quiere decir que tengo COVID19?
Necesitaremos hacerle la prueba y sabremos el resultado en 36 horas. Es normal sentirse nervioso mientras está esperando los resultados. Por ello lo mejor es que intente hacer cosas que le ayuden a estar distraído. Sabremos más en las próximas 24 horas y le tendremos informado.

querer decir
to mean

¿Esto quiere decir que tengo COVID19?
Does this mean I have COVID19?

Necesitaremos hacerle la prueba.
We will need to test you.

hacerle la prueba a usted
to test you

Y sabremos el resultado en 36 horas.
And we will know the result in 36 hours.

sentirse nervioso/a
to feel nervous

Es normal sentirse nervioso mientras está esperando los resultados.
It is normal to feel nervous while you are waiting for the results.

sentirse estresado/a
to feel stress

Es normal sentirse estresada mientras está esperando los resultados,
It is normal to feel stressed when you are waiting for results,

Por ello lo mejor es que intente hacer cosas que le ayuden a estar distraído.

por ello / por eso
so, therefore

Lo mejor es que intente (1) hacer cosas que (2) le ayuden a (3) estar distraído.
It is best that you try to do things that will help you to be distracted.

We are making a JUDGEMENT when we say, “lo mejor es que…” so we follow this with the SUBJUNCTIVE. [See Quiz #2 – The Subjunctive in Noun Clauses Spanish Grammar members see also: Subj05 Influence Emotion and Judgments]
We use the SUBJUNCTIVE to describe cosas, because we have no specific things in mind. [See Quiz # 3 – The Subjunctive in Adjective Clauses. Spanish Grammar members see: Subj07 Unspecified Nouns]
We follow the AYUDAR with the preposition A. [See Spanish Verbs with Prepositions. Spanish Grammar members, see VB04 Spanish Verbs with Prepositions.]
mantener el equilibrio
to stay balanced

Por ello lo mejor es que intente hacer cosas que le ayuden a mantener el equilibrio.
So it is best that you try to do things that will help you to stay balanced.

Sabremos más en las próximas 24 horas.
We will know more in the next 24 hours.

Y le tendremos informado.
And we will keep you informed.

tenerle informado/a
to keep you informed

¿Qué tan malo es?
8:52
¿Qué tan malo es?
De la información que tenemos ahora y de mi examen médico,