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Hello everyone. Welcome back to EnglishPod. My name is Margo.

And I’m Erica.

And where are we going today Erica?

To the pharmacy.

All right. To the pharmacy or drugstore?

Yes.

Or also in British English sometimes people say the chemist.

That’s right.

So as you know, at the pharmacy you get medicine but there are certain vocabulary words that are related to this place that we need to learn.

That’s right. So we’re going to learn some vocabulary about medicine and also some interesting phrases.

So before we listen to the dialogue, let’s take a look at vocabulary preview.

Vocabulary preview

We’re going to look at two words today that you’ll hear in the dialogue. And the first one, milligrams

Milligrams

milligrams

also the abbreviation for this is mg.

That’s right.

Okay, so a milligram is—

100’s of a gram. So there are 100 mg in gram.

Exactly and it’s very common to be used with medicine, right?

Exactly.

We buy medicine in milligrams.

Okay and what’s our next word?

price check

a price check

a price check

Okay, so at the pharmacy or at the supermarket sometimes the cashier will ask for a price check.

And that is the action of checking to find out the price.

Okay, so a price check. With this I think we’re ready now to listen to our dialogue for the first time. And let’s see what our shopper is buying at the pharmacy.

A: Hello sir, how can I help you?

B: Yes, I need this prescription please.

A: Let’s see. Okay, so 50 mg of Prozac, would you prefer this in capsule or tablet?

B: Capsules are fine.

A: Okay, you should take 1 capsule 3 times a day.

Be sure not to take it on an empty stomach, and also, don’t ever mix it with alcohol!

B: Yes, I know. It’s not the first time I’m taking this!

Don’t worry, I won’t overdose!

A: Okay, anything else I can get you?

B: Oh, yes, I almost forgot! Can I also get some eye drops and um, some condoms?

A: Sure. Darn condoms aren’t registered in our system.

B: Oh, well that’s okay, I’ll get some later, thanks.

Really it’s no problem.

A: Just hang on there a sec. Can I get a price check on ” Fun Times Ribbed Condoms” please!

Oh, no. How embarrassing.

A little bit embarrassing that she asked for a price check on these condoms, right?

Yeah but you know what it seems like every time you have to buy something embarrassing at the pharmacy, there’s a million people watching.

Yeah, it never fails.

Yeah.

Well, let’s take a look at some of those words that we were talking about related to medicine in language take away.

Language take away

The first word, a prescription

prescription

prescription

All right. So what is a prescription?

Well, a prescription is a note from your doctor, explaining what medicine you need.

So this note from your doctor is necessary to buy that medicine, right?

Exactly.

Okay, prescription. Well, this shopper was getting some medicine and well, the chemist or the pharmacist asked if you wanted it in capsules or tablets.

So let’s look at those two words. A capsule

capsule

capsule

Now a capsule is like a small tube, right?

Yeah, it’s a form of a pill and it’s shaped like a tube with the medicine inside.

And it’s covered in plastic, right?

Exactly.

Now you swallowed it, the capsule.

Yeah.

And the tablet

Is like a pill that is round and flat.

Okay, so tablets

And capsules. Both are the same thing basically but just different presentations.

Different shapes

Different shapes

Yeah

It’s easier maybe for some people to swallow capsule.

You think so?

I don’t know. I think so.

Well sometimes

Because tablets are a little bit like big circles and it’s hard to swallow.

Yeah and I guess capsules are smoother.

Yeah, exactly.

But we’re not pharmacist so let’s move on and focus on the language which is what we do know about. So the pharmacist warned the patient not to take too much medicine, right? Because you might overdose

overdose

overdose

Okay, so to overdose like you said

is to take too much medicine and get really sick or even die.

So if you overdose on medicine, it could be bad for you instead of good.

Well, obviously very bad.

And what about our last word for today?

Well, the shopper also asked for some eyedrops

eyedrops

eyedrops

So this is medicine for your eyes.

Yes, usually liquid like water that you put in your eyes.

Okay, so I think now with this medicine language clear, we can listen to her dialogue again but it’s going to be slow down a little bit.

That’ll help us understand these phrases just a little bit better.

A: Hello sir, how can I help you?

B: Yes, I need this prescription please.

A: Let’s see. Okay, so 50 mg of Prozac, would you prefer this in capsule or tablet?

B: Capsules are fine.

A: Okay, you should take 1 capsule 3 times a day.

Be sure not to take it on an empty stomach, and also, don’t ever mix it with alcohol!

B: Yes, I know. It’s not the first time I’m taking this!

Don’t worry, I won’t overdose!

A: Okay, anything else I can get you?

B: Oh, yes, I almost forgot! Can I also get some eye drops and um, some condoms?

A: Sure. Darn condoms aren’t registered in our system.

B: Oh, well that’s okay, I’ll get some later, thanks.

Really it’s no problem.

A: Just hang on there a sec. Can I get a price check on ” Fun Times Ribbed Condoms” please!

Okay, so now it’s time for us to take a look at some of the phrases that we saw in this dialogue in putting it together.

Putting it together

We’re gonna look at two phrases here and we’re gonna see how we can use them in different situations. The pharmacist warned, be sure not to take it on an empty stomach.

Okay, so be sure not to

be sure not to

So what does he mean by this?

He just means don’t do this.

Okay.

So don’t take the medicine without eating.

We can mix it up a little bit. Why don’t we listen some examples of how we can use this in different situations?

example 1

Be sure to leave your bike outside. It’ll be stolen

example 2

Be sure not to forget your umbrella. It’s raining today.

example 3

I told him to be sure not to do anything stupid but he did.

So Marco, why should we say be sure not to instead of don’t?

I think don’t is sounds more like an order.

Okay

very direct. Maybe be sure not to is a little bit softer, a little bit more friendly. So be sure not to. Now for our last phrase so the pharmacist in the end wanted to check for the price and he said just hang on there a sec.

So that’s interesting, hang on

hang on

hang on

Well, hang on, what does he mean by hang on?

He means wait.

Wait. It’s an informal way of saying wait.

Exactly. It’s also a little bit more friendly than just saying wait.

Right, exactly. And we can change the time a little bit, right?

Yeah, so you can say hang on a second

or hang on a moment

hang on a minute

all right

What about hang on an hour?

Maybe if you’re telling someone to wait for an hour, just hang on there for an hour. I’ll be there soon.

yeah but I guess it’s more common hang on a minute.

Right, maybe for shorter periods of time.

Okay, so with these phrases I think now we can use them in different circumstances obviously not only in the pharmacy.

Yeah.

And well, let’s listen to our dialogue for the last time.

A: Hello sir, how can I help you?

B: Yes, I need this prescription please.

A: Let’s see. Okay, so 50 mg of Prozac, would you prefer this in capsule or tablet?

B: Capsules are fine.

A: Okay, you should take 1 capsule 3 times a day.

Be sure not to take it on an empty stomach, and also, don’t ever mix it with alcohol!

B: Yes, I know. It’s not the first time I’m taking this!

Don’t worry, I won’t overdose!

A: Okay, anything else I can get you?

B: Oh, yes, I almost forgot! Can I also get some eye drops and um, some condoms?

A: Sure. Darn condoms aren’t registered in our system.

B: Oh, well that’s okay, I’ll get some later, thanks.

Really it’s no problem.

A: Just hang on there a sec. Can I get a price check on ” Fun Times Ribbed Condoms” please!

Okay, so with medicine an interesting thing comes up, right?

That’s right. A lot of people think that you eat medicine.

Okay or drink medicine?

Yeah but in English you always take medicine.

always take medicine

yeah so you never can say, I ate my medicine yesterday. It always has to be I took my medicine.

Okay, you take the capsules

exactly or take the tablets

all right, so you take medicine. Now an interesting thing in the United States for example, it’s very hard to get medicine without a prescription.

That’s right. So we always talk about prescription medicine and OTC medicine or over-the-counter medicine.

So over-the-counter medicine is

is medicine you can just buy without that prescription or note from your doctor.

Okay, so for example if you have a headache, you can go to the pharmacy and buy aspirin.

Yeah and that’s over-the-counter medicine

but prescription medicine, you can’t get it without the doctor’s note.

Yes, and like you said in America you almost have to have a prescription for everything

which is strange because people can overdose on aspirin. So tell us how medicine and pharmacy’s work in your countries and also if you have questions or comments our website EnglishPod.com is always open and ready for you.

Well, thanks for downloading this lesson you guys and until next time, goodbye.