Tôi không khỏe — Saying you do not feel well

What you will learn

This lesson gives you a small set of Vietnamese phrases for saying that you do not feel well.

The goal is not to diagnose an illness. The goal is much simpler: describe what you feel clearly enough for another person to understand you.

1. Tôi không khỏe

A useful general sentence is:

Tôi không khỏe. — I do not feel well.

In everyday conversation, Vietnamese often softens it slightly:

• Hôm nay tôi không khỏe lắm. — I do not feel very well today.
• Em không khỏe lắm. — I do not feel very well, said as em.
• Anh hơi mệt. — I am a little tired, said as anh.

Another natural way to say it

You may also hear:

Hôm nay tôi không được khỏe. — I am not feeling well today.

This is also natural Vietnamese. Compared with Hôm nay tôi không khỏe lắm, không được khỏe often sounds a little softer and more indirect: the speaker presents their condition as not quite good.

Both are useful. Keep Hôm nay tôi không khỏe lắm as a neutral Beginner model, and recognize Hôm nay tôi không được khỏe as another natural way to express the same general situation.

khỏe can mean healthy/well. You already met it in Anh khỏe không?. Here the same word is used to say that your condition is not good.

2. Tôi mệt — I am tired

• Tôi mệt.
• Tôi hơi mệt.
• Hôm nay tôi mệt quá.

hơi makes the statement milder: a little / somewhat.

quá can express a strong reaction: very / so / too, depending on the situation.

3. Đau + body part

Vietnamese can put đau directly before the part of the body that hurts:

• Tôi đau đầu. — I have a headache / My head hurts.
• Tôi đau bụng. — I have a stomachache / My stomach hurts.
• Tôi đau họng. — I have a sore throat / My throat hurts.

Notice the Vietnamese structure itself.

English says “I have a headache,” but Vietnamese does not need to build the sentence with có.

Learn:

Tôi đau đầu.

not a word-for-word translation from English.

4. A few other useful problems

• Tôi ho. — I am coughing / I have a cough.
• Tôi sốt. — I have a fever.
• Tôi hơi chóng mặt. — I feel a little dizzy.

These are enough for a first practical health conversation.

You may also hear expressions such as bị sốt. The word bị has wider grammatical uses, so this lesson does not try to teach the whole system. For now, Tôi sốt is enough to communicate the basic idea.

5. Ask what is wrong

In a health context, you may hear:

• Anh đau ở đâu? — Where does it hurt?
• Đau chỗ nào? — Where does it hurt?, shorter/conversational.
• Có sốt không? — Do you have a fever?
• Có ho không? — Are you coughing / Do you have a cough?
• Anh thấy thế nào? — How do you feel?

These reuse question patterns you already know.

6. A short conversation

Lan: Hôm nay anh sao vậy?

David: Anh không khỏe lắm. Anh hơi đau đầu.

Lan: Anh có sốt không?

David: Không. Chỉ hơi mệt thôi.

Lan: Vậy à.

David: Ừ, chắc hôm nay anh nghỉ một chút.

The conversation does not need a medical diagnosis. David simply says what he feels.

7. Natural Vietnamese can be shorter

When the person and situation are already clear, you may hear:

• Mệt quá.
• Đau đầu quá.
• Hơi chóng mặt.
• Không khỏe lắm.

The missing subject is understood from context.

As in earlier lessons, short Vietnamese is not random Vietnamese. It works because both people already know who is being discussed.

8. Không khỏe is broad

Tôi không khỏe does not tell the listener exactly what the problem is.

You can add one useful detail:

• Tôi không khỏe lắm. Tôi đau đầu.
• Tôi hơi mệt và đau họng.
• Tôi sốt.

If you need professional help, the next lesson will focus on finding a doctor, clinic or pharmacy.

9. Useful vocabulary

• khỏe — healthy / well
• không khỏe — not well
• mệt — tired
• đau — hurt / painful
• đau đầu — headache / head hurts
• đau bụng — stomachache / stomach hurts
• đau họng — sore throat
• ho — cough
• sốt — fever / have a fever
• chóng mặt — dizzy
• chỗ nào — which place / where, in this context
• chỉ... thôi — only / just

10. Vietnam in real life

People may ask simple questions such as Mệt à?, Sao vậy?, Có sao không? or Đỡ chưa? when they notice that someone does not look well.

These questions can express concern, but their exact tone depends on the relationship.

You do not need to learn every possible health expression at once. Being able to say clearly Tôi không khỏe, Tôi đau đầu, or Tôi sốt is already useful.

11. Common beginner mistakes

• Building Tôi đau đầu through the English structure “I have...”.
• Thinking every illness sentence must use bị.
• Using one vague sentence when one short detail would make the situation much clearer.
• Trying to learn medical vocabulary before mastering simple everyday descriptions.

Try it

• Say that you do not feel very well today.
• Say that you are a little tired.
• Say that you have a headache.
• Ask whether someone has a fever.
• Answer with Không. Chỉ hơi mệt thôi.

Quick recap

For basic health problems, Vietnamese can be very direct:

Tôi không khỏe. Tôi mệt. Tôi đau đầu. Tôi đau bụng. Tôi ho. Tôi sốt.

Describe what you actually feel. You do not need a complicated medical sentence to make yourself understood.