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Perfect Phrases for ESL Everyday Situations

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The Pharmacy
In the United States, the terms pharmacy and drugstore are used interchangeably. Formerly, a pharmacy prepared medications, and a drugstore dispensed them. Now many supermarkets also have pharmacies that fill prescriptions. Pharmacies and/or drugstores sell over-the-counter medicines, administer inoculations, and sell toys, candy, cosmetics, and numerous other articles as well as filling physicians’ prescriptions. This may be different from the chemist shop or apothecary in many countries.
The dispensing of prescription medicine is overseen by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States. The pharmacist is usually a wonderful source of information such as drug ingredients, drug interactions, proper dosages, side effects, and generic equivalents, as well as prescriptions. The Rx (some say Rx is from the Latin for recipe) is represented on labels, stores, and elsewhere.
Even for those fluent in English, drug labels and explanations can be confusing or difficult to understand. FDA regulations call for full disclosure of all possible side effects and drug interactions, so the language is technical.
Phrases to Say When Calling or Talking to the Pharmacy
image    What are your hours?
image    When are you open until?
image    Are you a 24-hour pharmacy?
image    Do you accept___________(checks, cash, credit cards, debit cards)?
image    What ID do I need? I just moved here from___________ (your country).
image    I have a prescription that I need___________(today, tonight, in 24 hours). Will that be a problem?
image    Is there a drive-through at your drugstore?
image    Is there someone___________(there, in the drugstore, in your department) who speaks___________(your language)?
image    Is there a Language Line to translate or interpret the ___________(instructions, directions, label information) for me into my language?
image    Do you carry homeopathic remedies?
image    May I___________(pay for, check out, purchase) other items at the pharmacy counter, or do I have to go to a separate cashier?
Doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, etc., ask for a list of medications. Make a list and keep it with you. The list should include vitamins, homeopathic remedies, and other herbal substances. This list will be used many times.
Phrases to Use in the Pharmacy
image    Are you the pharmacist?
image    May I speak with the pharmacist?
image    The/My doctor gave me this prescription.
image    I am a new customer.
image    I am___________(new here, new in the United States).
image    Do I need to___________(fill out a form, show you identification)?
image    May I pay with___________(a credit card, a debit card, a check, cash)?
image    When will the prescription be ready?
image    When can I pick up the medication?
image    Do you deliver? I___________(don’t drive, don’t have a car, have a vision problem, just had surgery).
image    May I___________(wait for this, come back later, pick this up tomorrow)?
image    How long will this take?
image    How much will this cost?
image    What type of___________(language services, translation, telephone interpretation, in-person interpretation) do you provide?
image    I don’t need a childproof cap. There are no children in my home, and it is too difficult for me to open, because I have ___________(arthritis, rheumatism).
image    May I renew prescriptions over the phone?
Phrases to Use When Talking with the Pharmacist
image    How often should I take this?
image    How many times a day?
image    Does this interact with my other prescriptions?
image    Here’s a list of medications I’m taking.
image    Is there a generic equivalent for this drug?
image    Is the generic as effective as the name brand?
image    How much does the generic cost?
image    What are the side effects of this prescription?
image    Can I drive after taking this medicine?
image    Will this make me drowsy?
image    Should I take this with___________(food, meals)?
image    Should I take this___________(without food, on an empty stomach)?
image    Do I take this___________(first thing in the morning, before bed)?
image    Does this medication come in___________(a tablet, a capsule, a liquid, a flavored liquid)?
image    My child can’t take pills; does this come in a liquid?
image    Does this cough medicine come in a flavored liquid?
image    Do you have translating capability to give me instructions in my native language?
Phrases You May Hear on a Recorded Message When You Call the Pharmacy
image    This is___________(name of store).
image    Press___________(number on the keypad) to___________ (speak to a pharmacist, speak to the pharmacy department, renew your prescription, refill a prescription).
image    Please___________(say, punch in, press, enter) your prescription number.
image    Please___________(hold on, wait) while we___________ (check, confirm, look up) your prescription.
image    Press 1 to confirm a pickup time, 2 to fill another prescription.
image    Your prescription will be___________(ready, done, filled) ___________(today, tomorrow). Press 1 to enter a pickup time.
image    We___________(have to, must, will) check with your ___________(physician, doctor) about a___________ (renewal, refill). We’ll call you___________(about a pickup time, if there’s a problem).
image    To end this call, press___________(star, pound, 0, any key).
Phrases You May Hear from the Pharmacist
image    Do you have any questions about this drug?
image    We don’t have the complete prescription.
image    May I give you these to___________(tide you over, hold you, keep you going) until I___________(order, get, find at another store)___________(the rest, the remainder, more) of this medication?
image    Did you know that this medication comes in a generic form?
image    Did your doctor tell you that this prescription is available in a generic form?
image    The generic is available for___________(half the price, much less, a lower cost).
Idioms and Other Vocabulary
Administer: give out
Childproof cap: bottle cap made so that children cannot open the cap (lid or top) of the container
Cough: sound of air being sent out of the throat (passage at back of mouth)
Dispensed: gave out
Drive-through (also drive-thru): place in some pharmacies, banks, or stores where you don’t get out of the car but instead drive up to a window and do business
Drowsy: tired, falling asleep
Effective: working well, doing a good job
Flavored: given a better taste (In medicines, this is especially done for children.)
Food and Drug Administration (FDA): federal government agency that checks to see if food and drugs are safe
Formerly: at a time before
Full disclosure: tell everything about a subject
Generic equivalents: drugs not made by a particular pharmaceutical manufacturer and, therefore, not sold under a brand name
Hold you: provide you enough until the full prescription becomes available
Inoculations: injections to protect against particular diseases
Interchangeably: with the same meaning (For words used interchangeably, you may say or write either word.)
Interpret: change spoken language to another language
Keep you going: give you a supply until you can get more
Language Line: service that interprets or translates spoken or written language
List of medications: list of all the medicines you are taking
On an empty stomach: before eating or drinking anything
Over-the-counter: available for sale without a prescription (Over-the-counter medications are usually on shelves in the store, not behind the counter, table, or shelf that separates you from the prescription medications and the pharmacist.)
Pound: the # on a telephone
Press: push down, as a number on the telephone (The term also means to iron—pronounced /ayern/—clothes.)
Punch in: push down, as a number on the telephone
Renew (also refill): get more of
Rx: the written abbreviation of the word prescription
Source: where something comes from
Star: the * on a telephone
Tide you over: provide a temporary supply that is enough to take until the full supply becomes available
Translate: change written language to another language
24-hour pharmacy: a pharmacy that never closes, is open 24 hours a day, every day
Part 2 Notes Section
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