Body & Health Care — A2 Essential Words
Ten essential A2 words (Health) with the complete apparatus: pronunciation, simple definitions, natural American examples, collocations, family, the common mistake and spoken usage — plus a 15-question practice quiz. Mark your status on every word.
stomachache /ˈstʌməkeɪk/ noun A2 Health
Meaning: Pain in the stomach or belly.
Example: Too much candy gave him a stomachache.
Another example: She stayed home with a stomachache.
Collocations: a bad stomachache · have a stomachache · stomachache from
Synonyms: bellyache (informal), stomach pain
Word family: stomachaches (n pl)
⚠ Common mistake: The CH is pronounced K here: STOM-uh-kake. Ache words stack: headache, toothache, backache, stomachache.
🗣 In spoken American English: Every school nurse hears it before every math test — timing is suspicious.
Register: Neutral — health basics.
toothache /ˈtuːθeɪk/ noun A2 Health
Meaning: Pain in a tooth, usually because of damage or decay.
Example: A toothache kept him awake all night.
Another example: The dentist fixed her toothache.
Collocations: a terrible toothache · have a toothache · toothache pain
Synonyms: dental pain
Word family: toothaches (n pl) · tooth (n — plural teeth)
⚠ Common mistake: One tooth, two TEETH — the plural changes its vowel. Toothaches always choose weekends and holidays, dentists swear.
🗣 In spoken American English: Sugar's revenge, delivered at 2 a.m.
Register: Neutral — health basics.
pill /pɪl/ noun A2 Health
Meaning: A small, round, solid piece of medicine that you swallow whole.
Example: Take one pill after lunch.
Another example: The pills helped her headache.
Collocations: take a pill · a pill for · pills and water
Synonyms: tablet, medicine, capsule
Word family: pills (n pl)
⚠ Common mistake: Pill and tablet are near-twins; capsules are the two-color soft kind. 'A hard pill to swallow' means a difficult truth to accept.
🗣 In spoken American English: Grandmothers organize them by weekday in little boxes.
Register: Neutral — health essential.
bandage /ˈbændɪdʒ/ noun A2 Health
Meaning: A piece of material used to cover and protect a wound; the small sticky kind is called a Band-Aid in the US.
Example: Put a bandage on the cut.
Another example: The nurse wrapped a bandage around his hand.
Collocations: a bandage on · change the bandage · sticky bandage
Synonyms: Band-Aid (US brand word), dressing, wrap
Word family: bandages (n pl) · bandage (v)
⚠ Common mistake: In everyday US speech, the small sticky kind is a 'Band-Aid' — the brand became the word, like Kleenex for tissues.
🗣 In spoken American English: Kids request them for injuries invisible to science.
Register: Neutral — first aid essential.
vitamin /ˈvɪtəmɪn/ noun A2 Health
Meaning: A natural substance in food (named with letters: A, B, C, D) that the body needs in small amounts to stay healthy.
Example: Oranges are rich in vitamin C.
Another example: She takes a vitamin every morning.
Collocations: vitamin C · vitamin D · take vitamins
Synonyms: nutrient, supplement
Word family: vitamins (n pl)
⚠ Common mistake: American pronunciation: VY-tuh-min. Sunshine is the body's own vitamin D factory — doctors remind northerners every winter.
🗣 In spoken American English: Labels list them in percentages nobody reads until age thirty.
Register: Neutral — health essential.
checkup /ˈtʃekʌp/ noun A2 Health
Meaning: A general medical examination to check that you are healthy, done regularly even when you feel fine.
Example: I have my yearly checkup on Tuesday.
Another example: The dentist does a checkup every six months.
Collocations: a yearly checkup · checkup at · a full checkup
Synonyms: examination, physical (US noun), screening
Word family: checkups (n pl) · check up (v — phrasal)
⚠ Common mistake: A checkup happens when you're WELL (prevention); a doctor's visit happens when you're sick. In the US, 'a physical' is the yearly one.
🗣 In spoken American English: Cars stole the idea: the 'tune-up' is the machine's checkup.
Register: Neutral — health essential.
itch /ɪtʃ/ noun / verb A2 Health
Meaning: An unpleasant feeling on the skin that makes you want to scratch it.
Example: Mosquito bites itch terribly.
Another example: The wool sweater makes me itch.
Collocations: an itch · itch and scratch · itchy skin
Synonyms: tickle (lighter, playful)
Word family: itches (n pl) · itchy (adj) · scratch (v — the response)
⚠ Common mistake: The ITCH is the feeling; the SCRATCH is what you do about it. 'An itch to travel' means a strong urge to go.
🗣 In spoken American English: 'The seven-year itch' made the word famous in marriage jokes.
Register: Neutral — body basics.
sneeze /sniːz/ verb / noun A2 Health
Meaning: To push air suddenly and loudly out of your nose and mouth, because of dust, illness, or allergies — you cannot stop it.
Example: Pepper makes me sneeze.
Another example: She sneezed three times in a row.
Collocations: sneeze and cough · a big sneeze · sneeze into your elbow
Synonyms: cough (throat twin)
Word family: sneezes (n pl) · sneeze (v)
⚠ Common mistake: After a sneeze, Americans say 'Bless you!' — and the sneezer says 'Thank you.' Covering with the elbow is the modern rule.
🗣 In spoken American English: Nothing interrupts a quiet room more honestly.
Register: Neutral — body basics.
swallow /ˈswɒləʊ/ verb A2 Health
Meaning: To make food, drink, or medicine go down your throat into your stomach.
Example: Swallow the pill with water.
Another example: The soup is too hot to swallow.
Collocations: swallow the pill · hard to swallow · swallow food
Synonyms: gulp (big, fast), sip (small drink)
Antonyms: spit out
Word family: swallows (v) · swallow (n — also a bird!)
⚠ Common mistake: A swallow is also a small bird — spring's famous returner. 'Hard to swallow' describes truths as well as pills.
🗣 In spoken American English: Babies must learn it; actors fake it with empty cups.
Register: Neutral — body essential.
heal /hiːl/ verb A2 Health
Meaning: To become healthy again after an injury or illness; to make a wound or illness better.
Example: The cut healed in a week.
Another example: Time heals a broken heart, people say.
Collocations: heal quickly · heal the wound · fully healed
Synonyms: recover, mend, cure
Antonyms: injure, worsen
Word family: healing (n) · healed (adj) · healer (n)
⚠ Common mistake: Wounds HEAL (themselves); doctors TREAT and CURE (diseases). The heart borrows the word for sadness.
🗣 In spoken American English: 'Healing' is also the whole wellness industry's favorite noun.
Register: Neutral — health essential.
Practice — Body & Health Care
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