Hospital in French: useful vocabulary and phrases
You live in French-speaking Switzerland and something unexpected happens: a pain gets worse or a loved one feels unwell. You then need to find a hospital quickly, and once you are there, the signs, directions and questions from the staff can become hard to understand if you haven't yet mastered French.
In this article, discover the essential vocabulary to find your way around and communicate in a French-speaking hospital, alongside our article on parts of the head and face in French.
How do you say hospital in French?
When you look up the word "hospital" in an English–French dictionary, you will mainly find l'hôpital. It is the general term used to talk about a hospital. Good news: hospital and hôpital come from the same Latin word, and the circumflex on the ô marks an s that disappeared over time. Watch the article, though: unlike English, French nouns have a gender, hôpital is masculine, and because it begins with a silent h, le becomes l': l'hôpital.
The preposition then depends on what you want to say. Where English distinguishes between being in hospital and going to hospital, French says à l'hôpital in both cases, and the verb makes the difference. If you are already there, you say être à l'hôpital, "to be in hospital". If you are heading there, you will use aller à l'hôpital. One small rule explains the form: à + le normally contracts to au, but before a vowel or a silent h it stays à l', which is why you say à l'hôpital and never « au hôpital ».
In French-speaking Switzerland, you will also see acronyms on the signs: le CHUV (Centre hospitalier universitaire vaudois) in Lausanne or les HUG (Hôpitaux universitaires de Genève). They are used just like hôpital, and since CHUV starts with a consonant, the contraction applies this time: Il doit aller au CHUV. ("He has to go to the CHUV.")
| English | French | Example sentence |
|---|---|---|
| hospital | l'hôpital | L'hôpital est tout près. |
| clinic | la clinique | La clinique est tout près. |
| in hospital (location) | être à l'hôpital | Je suis à l'hôpital. |
| to hospital (direction) | aller à l'hôpital | Il doit aller à l'hôpital. |
These differences may seem small, but they are useful for understanding directions or explaining exactly where you are.
Hospital departments in French
Here you are at the hospital reception. The staff point you to a department, but you don't immediately recognise the name on the sign. Being able to identify the main departments makes it easier to follow directions and quickly find the right place.
In an emergency, you will need to look for les urgences (the emergency department). Other departments specialise in certain types of care: surgery, internal medicine, radiology or paediatrics.
Here are the main terms to remember:
| English | French |
|---|---|
| emergency department | les urgences |
| intensive care | la réanimation (in Switzerland: les soins intensifs) |
| surgery | la chirurgie |
| internal medicine | la médecine interne |
| maternity ward | la maternité |
| paediatrics | la pédiatrie |
| radiology | la radiologie |
| pharmacy | la pharmacie |
Good news: several of these names look very similar to English, such as la radiologie, la pédiatrie or la pharmacie. Spotting these similarities will help you find your way around the hospital corridors more quickly.
Vocabulary for a hospital stay in French
Once you have been directed to the right department, another step begins: admission. The staff ask for your details, may hand you some documents and explain the next steps of your care.
On admission
You may need to show your insurance card, give details about your insurance or fill in a form. If you have a scheduled appointment, the staff will also check its time.
| English | French |
|---|---|
| admission | l'admission |
| insurance card | la carte d'assuré(e) (France: la carte Vitale) |
| health insurance | l'assurance maladie |
| form | le formulaire |
| appointment | le rendez-vous |
Don't understand a word or a question? No need to look for a complicated sentence. Pouvez-vous répéter, s'il vous plaît ? ("Could you repeat that, please?") can already help you keep the conversation going.
On the ward
After admission, you are settled into your room. The staff explain where your bed is and walk you through the different stages of your care. During your hospital stay, you will meet the care team, and there will be talk of tests, blood tests or sometimes an operation. Here are the words that come up most often, with their English translation:
| English | French |
|---|---|
| patient | le/la patient(e) |
| ward | le service |
| nurse | l'infirmier / l'infirmière |
| doctor | le médecin |
| bed | le lit |
| room | la chambre |
| examination, test | l'examen |
| blood test | la prise de sang |
| operation | l'opération |
| visiting hours | les heures de visite |
These words help you follow what the team explains to you every day. To go further, our article nurse in French brings together the vocabulary of care and the phrases staff use with patients in hospital.
As your stay goes on, you will hear words related to care and your hospitalisation: the ward round, a drip, an injection or a dressing. At the end of your stay, you may also hear the term used for your discharge. Here are these terms and their English equivalents:
| English | French |
|---|---|
| ward round | la visite (médicale) |
| drip | la perfusion |
| injection | la piqûre |
| dressing | le pansement (plaster: le sparadrap) |
| discharge (from hospital) | la sortie |
Watch out for one trap: in French, the word visite covers two different things in hospital. La visite is the doctors' round of the rooms, while your relatives come to see you during les heures de visite, visiting hours. English keeps the two clearly apart.
Vocabulary can also vary depending on the type of facility. You may come across l'hôpital de jour (day hospital), la clinique privée (private clinic) or l'hôpital pédiatrique, also called l'hôpital pour enfants (children's hospital).
Essential phrases at the hospital in French
Let's go back to our starting situation. You are at the hospital reception, you need help, but you don't know exactly how to explain it. At that moment, a few short, easy-to-remember phrases can be especially useful. Here are the most important ones, with their English translation:
- J'ai besoin d'un médecin. → I need a doctor.
- Où sont les urgences ? → Where is the emergency department?
- J'ai très mal. → I'm in a lot of pain.
- Appelez une ambulance, s'il vous plaît. → Please call an ambulance.
- Pouvez-vous m'aider ? → Can you help me?
- Je ne comprends pas. → I don't understand.
- Pouvez-vous répéter, s'il vous plaît ? → Could you repeat that, please?
At the hospital, the staff above all need to understand what is happening to you. In a stressful situation, a simple phrase you know well is often more useful than a complex one.
Emergency vocabulary in French
In an emergency, knowing a few words can help you quickly identify the people or services you need. Here are the main ones, with their English translation and the number to dial in Switzerland:
| English | French | Number in Switzerland |
|---|---|---|
| ambulance | l'ambulance | 144 |
| fire brigade | les pompiers | 118 |
| police | la police | 117 |
In France, the emergency number to remember is 112.
In an emergency, these words need to come without effort. To find out which foundations you can already rely on in French, take stock in a few minutes:
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Knowing the essential words related to the hospital, care and emergencies will help you better understand directions and explain your needs in French, even in a stressful situation.
But to talk about health, it is also useful to be able to describe how you feel. Read our article on illnesses in French to learn how to name common illnesses and symptoms and expand your medical vocabulary.