Rellena: "Me duele mucho la ___ y no puedo pensar bien."
Based on: DELE A2: Léxico del cuerpo
DELE A2 · Salud
DELE A2 Practice Questions: Salud y Cuerpo (Health) (2026)
Salud y cuerpo equips you for the doctor's waiting room: naming body parts (la cabeza, la garganta, el brazo, la boca), describing symptoms ("Tengo fiebre y tos"), knowing where to go (al médico when ill, la farmacia for medicines) and what to call in a serious emergency in Spain, the 112. The signature grammar point is doler, which agrees with the body part that hurts: me duele la garganta but me duelen los pies. Around it the exam layers advice structures (hay que, es mejor no + infinitive) and instructions with medicine.
Practice
Free practice questions
Estás enfermo. ¿Adónde vas?
Based on: DELE A2: Léxico de la salud
Rellena: "Compro las medicinas en la ___."
Based on: DELE A2: Léxico de la salud
Rellena: "Me ___ la garganta desde ayer."
Based on: DELE A2: Gramática (verbo doler)
Rellena: "Me ___ los pies después de andar todo el día."
Based on: DELE A2: Gramática (verbo doler)
El médico te pregunta qué te pasa. ¿Qué respondes?
Based on: DELE A2: Expresión funcional (describir síntomas)
Rellena: "Tienes que ___ estas pastillas dos veces al día."
Based on: DELE A2: Léxico de la salud
Rellena: "Me he roto el ___ jugando al fútbol."
Based on: DELE A2: Léxico del cuerpo
Rellena: "___ una cita con el dentista para el lunes."
Based on: DELE A2: Gramática (pretérito perfecto)
Rellena: "Para estar sano, ___ comer fruta y verdura."
Based on: DELE A2: Gramática (hay que)
The body, the doctor and the pharmacy
The exam anchors this topic in scenarios. You are ill, so where do you go? Al médico. You buy medicines at la farmacia. The doctor asks what is wrong and you answer with tener plus the symptom: "Tengo fiebre y tos". A serious emergency in Spain means calling 112, a civic fact the exam checks directly. Body vocabulary is tested inside natural sentences rather than lists: "Me duele mucho la cabeza y no puedo pensar bien", "Me he roto el brazo jugando al fútbol", "Abre la boca, por favor; quiero verte los dientes", and seeing badly from afar means you need gafas. Instructions and treatment bring their own verb forms: "Tienes que tomar estas pastillas dos veces al día" uses tener que + infinitive for personal obligation, while the pharmacist's formal instruction "Para la fiebre, tome un jarabe cada ocho horas" shows the usted imperative tome. Appointments use the perfect tense: "He pedido una cita con el dentista para el lunes". The star grammar point, though, is doler. It works like gustar: the body part is the subject, so the verb agrees with it. "Me duele la garganta desde ayer" (singular garganta), but "Me duelen los pies después de andar todo el día" (plural pies). The exam offers both forms every time and lets the noun decide.
Feeling ill, giving advice and talking about past health
Beyond naming what hurts, the exam wants you to narrate illness and give advice. States use estar: "Estoy cansado, voy a acostarme pronto", "Estoy resfriado y tengo mucha tos". Consequences chain with así que and the modal deber: "Estoy enferma, así que voy a quedarme en casa hoy", "Estoy enfermo, así que debo descansar unos días". Advice at A2 leans on impersonal structures: "Para estar sano, hay que comer fruta y verdura" states a general rule with hay que, and "Si te duele el estómago, es mejor no comer comidas grasas" shows the pattern es mejor no + infinitive, where the conjugated distractors comes and comas wait for the unwary. Comparisons of health use mejor with que: "Me encuentro mejor que ayer", built on encontrarse, the reflexive verb for how you feel. Past health stories bring the tense contrast the exam recycles everywhere: the imperfect for repeated childhood patterns, "Cuando era niño, tenía muchos catarros en invierno", against the indefinido for a single past event, "Ayer me encontré mal y no fui a trabajar". Learn the signal words, cuando era niño versus ayer, and the correct tense picks itself. Health scenarios also stock the listening test's conversations, like calling the centro de salud for an appointment.
| Form | When to use it | Example from the bank |
|---|---|---|
| me duele | One body part (singular subject) | "Me duele la garganta desde ayer." |
| me duele | Singular part, with intensity | "Me duele mucho la cabeza." |
| me duelen | Two or more body parts (plural subject) | "Me duelen los pies después de andar todo el día." |
| te duele | Asking or advising the other person | "Si te duele el estómago, es mejor no comer comidas grasas." |
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What does the salud topic cover on the DELE A2?
The body and health in daily life: body parts (la cabeza, el brazo, la boca), symptoms (fiebre y tos), places (el médico, la farmacia), the 112 emergency number in Spain, medicine instructions (pastillas, jarabe), and the grammar of pain (doler), advice (hay que, es mejor no) and past illness.
What is the difference between me duele and me duelen?
The verb agrees with the body part, which is the grammatical subject: "me duele la garganta" (singular) but "me duelen los pies" (plural). It works like gustar. The exam always offers both forms, so check whether the hurting thing is singular or plural before answering.
What number do you call in a serious emergency in Spain?
112. It appears in our salud question bank as a direct question because it is exactly the kind of practical, everyday knowledge an A2 exam wraps language around, and it is worth knowing for life in Spain regardless of the exam.
How do I give health advice in Spanish at A2?
Use impersonal structures with the infinitive: "hay que comer fruta y verdura" for general rules, and "es mejor no comer comidas grasas" for softer advice. Personal obligation uses tener que ("tienes que tomar estas pastillas") or deber ("debo descansar").
Which past tense do I use for health stories?
The imperfect for repeated or background situations, signalled by phrases like cuando era niño: "tenía muchos catarros en invierno". The indefinido for one completed event, signalled by ayer: "Ayer me encontré mal y no fui a trabajar". The signal word in the sentence almost always decides it.
Do health situations appear in the DELE A2 listening test?
Yes, health scenarios such as phoning a centro de salud for an appointment are natural material for the listening test's short conversations and messages. Our app pairs this topic's practice questions with listening items using native es-ES audio you can slow down, so you can train the same situations by ear.