DELE B1 Health & Body Vocabulary: Practice Test & Review

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Health and body vocabulary appears throughout the DELE B1 exam — in reading passages about medical visits, listening dialogues at the pharmacy, and everyday conversations about how you feel.

This page gives you a five-part practice quiz: an evaluation set to see where you stand, three practice sets to drill body parts, symptoms, and medical vocabulary, and a challenge set to confirm mastery. If you get stuck, scroll down for the full explanation. Ready? Start with the evaluation set below.

Key Vocabulary

Health and body vocabulary is tested across all four DELE B1 skills — reading, listening, writing, and speaking. The most common patterns are:

• Me duele / Me duelen + body part — my [body part] hurts
• Tengo + symptom — I have [symptom]
• Estoy + condition — I am [condition]

Me duele la cabeza. — My head hurts.
Tengo fiebre. — I have a fever.
Estoy enfermo. — I’m sick.

Body Parts

Spanish	English
la cabeza	head
el ojo	eye
la oreja	ear (outer)
el oído	ear (inner)
la nariz	nose
la boca	mouth
el diente	tooth
la garganta	throat
el cuello	neck
el hombro	shoulder
el brazo	arm
el codo	elbow
la mano	hand
el dedo	finger
el pecho	chest
la espalda	back
el estómago	stomach
la pierna	leg
la rodilla	knee
el tobillo	ankle
el pie	foot

Symptoms & Illnesses

Spanish	English
la fiebre	fever
la tos	cough
el dolor	pain
el dolor de cabeza	headache
el dolor de estómago	stomach ache
la gripe	flu
el resfriado	cold
la alergia	allergy
el mareo	dizziness
la herida	wound
la quemadura	burn
la infección	infection

Medical Vocabulary

Spanish	English
el médico / la médica	doctor
el hospital	hospital
la farmacia	pharmacy
la receta	prescription
la cita	appointment
la pastilla	pill / tablet
la medicina	medicine
la inyección	injection
la vacuna	vaccine
el tratamiento	treatment
la consulta	consultation

Common Expressions

Spanish	English
Me duele…	My… hurts
Me duelen…	My… hurt (plural)
Tengo fiebre.	I have a fever.
Tengo tos.	I have a cough.
Estoy enfermo/a.	I’m sick.
Me siento mal.	I feel bad.
Me siento mareado/a.	I feel dizzy.
Estoy mejor.	I’m better.
Estoy peor.	I’m worse.
¡Que te mejores!	Get well soon!

Me Duele vs Me Duelen

The verb doler works like gustar. The body part is the subject.

Singular	Plural
Me duele la cabeza.	Me duelen los pies.
Me duele el estómago.	Me duelen las manos.
Me duele la garganta.	Me duelen los ojos.

Rule: Use duele for one body part. Use duelen for two or more.

Common Mistakes

1. Using tener dolor instead of doler.
✗ Tengo dolor de cabeza.
✓ Me duele la cabeza.
Both are correct, but me duele is more common in everyday speech.

2. Using duele with plural body parts.
✗ Me duele los pies.
✓ Me duelen los pies.
Plural body parts → duelen.

3. Confusing oreja and oído.
✗ Me duele la oreja. (outer ear)
✓ Me duele el oído. (inner ear)
Oreja = outer ear (visible). Oído = inner ear (hearing).

4. Forgetting the definite article.
✗ Me duele mi cabeza.
✓ Me duele la cabeza.
Use the definite article (la, el, los, las), not the possessive, with body parts.

Quick Decision Chart

Ask yourself	Answer	Expression
One body part hurting?	Yes	Me duele + singular
Two or more body parts hurting?	Yes	Me duelen + plural
Symptom?	Fever, cough, flu	Tengo + symptom
Condition?	Sick, dizzy, tired	Estoy + condition
At the doctor?	Appointment	Pedir cita
At the pharmacy?	Prescription	Receta

Two Sentences That Show the Difference

Me duele la cabeza y tengo fiebre.

My head hurts and I have a fever.

• Me duele + singular body part. Tengo + symptom.

Me duelen los pies y estoy muy cansado.

My feet hurt and I’m very tired.

• Me duelen + plural body part. Estoy + condition.