Body parts + the impersonal weh tun
Body parts are learned with article + plural, like any noun (full table in the note): der Kopf (die Koepfe), die Hand (die Haende), der Fuss (die Fuesse). weh tun (to hurt) is impersonal: the body part is the GRAMMATICAL SUBJECT, the person a DATIVE object — the reverse of English. Mein Kopf tut mir weh; Mir tun die Fuesse weh (plural subject, so tun not tut). Never Ich tue weh — that means I cause pain to someone else.
At the doctor and healthy-living phrases
Feeling ill: Ich fuehle mich krank (sich fuehlen needs mich), Ich habe Fieber, Ich bin erkaeltet, and compound aches in -schmerzen (Kopfschmerzen, Halsschmerzen, Bauchschmerzen). At the doctor: der Arzt / die Aerztin, das Rezept, die Apotheke; the key question Was fehlt dir? / Was fehlt Ihnen? (informal/formal). Healthy living: eine ausgewogene Ernaehrung, Sport treiben, genug schlafen. Full lists stay in the note.
Drawn from real examiner reports.
Dative after bei/zu: beim Arzt, zum Arzt
bei and zu, like mit, always govern the dative. der Arzt is masculine (dative dem), and both contract: beim Arzt (bei + dem), zum Arzt (zu + dem) — never bei der Arzt, and never bei dem / zu dem in full. Examiners flag the same fault after mit; if mit dem Bus is right, so are beim Arzt and zum Arzt.
Dative rarely used after mit, generalised to bei/zu this topic needs (s22 P42 Q3(a); s22 P43 Q3(a)).
gesuender, not gesunderer (one marker)
The comparative of gesund is gesuender — ONE comparative marker (umlaut + -er), never two. WRONG ist gesunderer als...; RIGHT Sport machen ist gesuender als Fernsehen (doing sport is healthier than watching TV). Examiners named this exact doubled-marker error for this exact adjective, so learn the set by heart: gesund → gesuender → am gesuendesten.
Comparative gesuender malformed as gesunderer, a doubled marker (s22 P42 Accuracy).
Learn less-common body parts (die Schulter)
Body-part vocabulary goes beyond the frequent words (Kopf, Hand, Fuss). Examiners name die Schulter (shoulder) as a word candidates did not know, which sank an otherwise answerable Listening question. Learn the FULL body-part list, not just the first few that come to mind, and check a word against a genuine body part before guessing a more familiar-sounding option.
Single unfamiliar words sink Listening questions, incl. Schulter (w23 P12).
ich moechte (would like) vs mochte (liked)
Two forms look almost identical but differ in tense: ich mochte = I liked (Praeteritum of moegen, a past preference); ich moechte = I would like (Konjunktiv II, a present wish). WRONG Ich mochte gesuender leben (wrong tense); RIGHT Ich moechte gesuender leben. Named across two sittings, so check the umlaut: no umlaut = past liking, umlaut = present wish.
Conditional not formed (mochte for moechte) (s23 P42 Accuracy); moechte/mochte confusion (s22 P42 Q2; s23 P42 Q2 Task 3).
Do not drop the reflexive: sich fuehlen
Reflexive verbs keep their reflexive pronoun — dropping it is a named examiner fault. WRONG Ich fuehle krank; RIGHT Ich fuehle mich krank (sich fuehlen needs mich); the same slip appears in Reading as Sie fuehlen... for sich fuehlen. Match the pronoun to the subject: ich → mich, du → dich, er/sie → sich. Sich fuehlen, sich erkaelten, sich verletzen all need it.
Reflexive pronouns omitted under manipulation, e.g. sich fuehlen (s22 P22 Q4(a); w23 P22 Q4(c)).
helfen takes a dative object (helfen mir)
A few common health verbs take a dative object, not the accusative you might expect. helfen is the key one: WRONG Der Arzt hilft ich / hilft mich; RIGHT Der Arzt hilft mir (helfen + dative). So it is Der Arzt hat mir geholfen (dative mir, participle geholfen), never hat mich geholfen. Learn helfen as a dative verb and the pronoun follows.
general FL trap — helfen governs the dative (dative-verb pattern); no single named report example.
Ich tue weh is wrong for I am in pain
Because English makes I or my head the subject of hurt, learners default to Ich tue weh for I am in pain — but that means closer to I cause pain to someone else. German makes the BODY PART (or impersonal es) the subject and the sufferer a dative object: WRONG Ich tue weh; RIGHT Mein Kopf tut mir weh. Match tut (sg) / tun (pl) to the real subject.
Pick ONE symptom frame and stay consistent
State the symptom with ONE construction, unblended: Ich habe + noun (Ich habe Fieber) or body part + tut/tun + dative + weh (Mein Kopf tut mir weh). Blending them gives Ich tue weh — I cause pain, not I am in pain. Choose the frame, then fill it.
Contract bei/zu to beim/zum before Arzt
When you mention the doctor, get the case right: bei and zu take the dative and contract — beim Arzt, zum Arzt, never bei der Arzt or bei dem Arzt in full. It is the same dative as mit dem Bus, so borrow that instinct whenever a doctor visit comes up.
Vary tenses for a healthy-lifestyle answer
For the Range marks, vary your tenses: a present habit (Ich esse viel Obst), a past change (Letztes Jahr habe ich angefangen, Sport zu treiben), and a future wish (Ich moechte mehr schlafen). Three time frames beat only-present answers.
Proof-read gesuender and moechte at the end
Before you finish, proof-read the two forms examiners flag here: gesuender (not gesunderer — one comparative marker) and moechte (would like, not mochte = liked). Both are named, recurring faults, so a quick end check recovers marks.
Illness and healthy-living questions are common across all four papers in 0525 — they need body-part nouns, the "weh tun" construction, and the illness/healthy-lifestyle vocabulary working together accurately.
Body parts (article + plural learned together):
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