How to Say “It hurts” in Chinese
Emergencies and health · HSK 3
"It hurts" in Chinese is 很疼 (Hěn téng). 疼 (téng) and 痛 (tòng) both mean 'hurt/pain'; in the Mainland 疼 is more common in everyday speech, while 痛 tends to appear in medical or written contexts and is more common in Taiwan. At a Chinese hospital doctors will ask 哪里疼? (nǎlǐ téng; where does it hurt?), so be ready to point and say 这里疼 (zhèlǐ téng).
Primary translation
很疼
Hěn téng
Variants by register
Formal
这里很疼
Zhèlǐ hěn téng
Casual
好疼啊
Hǎo téng a
When to use it
疼 (téng) and 痛 (tòng) both mean 'hurt/pain'; in the Mainland 疼 is more common in everyday speech, while 痛 tends to appear in medical or written contexts and is more common in Taiwan. At a Chinese hospital doctors will ask 哪里疼? (nǎlǐ téng; where does it hurt?), so be ready to point and say 这里疼 (zhèlǐ téng). For headache it's 头疼 (tóu téng), stomach ache 肚子疼 (dùzi téng), sore throat 嗓子疼 (sǎngzi téng); the body part always comes before 疼.
Example sentences
我的头很疼，能给我一点药吗？
Wǒ de tóu hěn téng, néng gěi wǒ yīdiǎn yào ma?
My head really hurts, can you give me some medicine?
医生，我这里一按就疼。
Yīshēng, wǒ zhèlǐ yī àn jiù téng.
Doctor, it hurts as soon as I press here.
我的牙疼了三天了，要看牙医。
Wǒ de yá téng le sān tiān le, yào kàn yáyī.
My tooth has hurt for three days, I need to see a dentist.