# to take / eat / drink medicine



## Messquito

What verb do you use for "to take medicine" in your language? Does it mean "to eat" or "to drink" or other things?
In English, usually, "to take" is expected, however, you can expect to see sentences like "My dog ate my medicine. (accidental)" "You drink the medicine, not eat.(to specify the way you take it)"

In Chinese, we usually use 吃(eat) for "吃藥(to take medicine)".
吃 here is much like "to take"; whether you take a pill or "drink" syrup, if you put it in your mouth, the usual verb is 吃.
However, in case of syrup, you can say 喝藥(drink medicine) if you want to specify the way you take it.

Other verb+藥:
用藥(use medicine)=_take drugs_, could be legal or illegal, just like to take drugs, although I feel like _to take drugs_ usually only means illegal use.
嗑藥(to bite/crack open medicine)=_take illicit drugs._


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## Circunflejo

In Spanish, _tomar_ would be the usual verb. It would be on the "to eat" group. However, exceptions can be found. For example, for suppositories, _poner_ (to put) is used instead.


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## apmoy70

In Greek we say *«παίρνω φάρμακο»* [ˈperno ˈfarmako] --> _to take madicine_

The v. is *«παίρνω»* [ˈperno] --> _to take, receive, lift, raise, pick up, grasp, seize, (colloq.) buy, acquire, have, drink, eat_, aphetism of ByzGr v. *«ἐπαίρ(ν)ω» epaí̯r(n)ō* < Classical v. *«ἐπαίρω» ĕpaí̯rō* < compound; Classical prefix, preposition & adverb *«ἔπι» épĭ* & *«ἐπί» ĕpí* --> _on it, at it_ (PIE *h₁epi- _on, at, near_ cf Skt. अपि (ápi), _also, too_, Lat. ob, Arm. եւ (ew), _and_) + Classical v. *«αἴρω» aí̯rō *--> _to take, grasp, seize, lift_ (with obscure etymology).

MoGr *«φάρμακο»* [ˈfarmako] (neut.) --> _healing substance_ < Classical neut. *«φάρμακον» pʰắrmakŏn* --> _healing or harmful medicine, healing or poisonous herb, drug, poisonous potion, magic (potion), dye, raw material for physical or chemical processing_ (of unknown etymology).

Its denominative v.* «φαρμακώνω/φαρμακώνομαι»* [farmaˈkono] (active), [farmaˈkonome] (mediopassive) has the meaning of poison: (active) _to poison, _(metaph.)_ to offend, embitter, hurt deeply_, (mediopassive) _to be poisoned, offended, hurt deeply_.


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## swindaff

Circunflejo said:


> In Spanish, _tomar_ would be the usual verb. It would be on the "to eat" group. However, exceptions can be found. For example, for suppositories, _poner_ (to put) is used instead.


Same thing in Italian.
_Prendere_* - *to take (general)
_Mettere _- to put (suppositories)

_Assumere _- similiar to "to ingest"; it can be used for any kind of drugs.


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## jazyk

_Tomar_ in Portuguese. _Tomar_ also means to take (buses, trains, airplanes), also photos, among other things, and to drink, but _beber_ is also available for the latter sense, although it feels (at least to me) slightly more formal.


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## AndrasBP

The same in Hungarian.
We don't use the verb "eat" for medicine, except for the "dog example" in the OP.

We say:
1) *gyógyszert bevenni* - to take medicine (on one occasion) - 
"gyógyszer" = lit. "healing substance" - medicine, + "t" = accusative suffix
"be" = verbal prefix meaning "in, into", "venni" = take

2) *gyógyszert szedni* - to take medicine (regularly)
"szedni" also means "to pick" (e.g. fruit, berries, mushrooms, etc.)


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## Rallino

In Turkish, we *drink* medicine: _ilaç içmek_. We drink syrup. We drink pills.


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## AndrasBP

Rallino said:


> We drink syrup. We drink pills.


And you even "drink" tobacco and cigarettes, is that right?


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## Rallino

Right!  They're clearly liquid.


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## Messquito

Rallino said:


> In Turkish, we *drink* medicine: _ilaç içmek_. We drink syrup. We drink pills.


In Japanese, too. They say "薬を飲む(to drink medicine)" instead of "薬を食べる(to eat medicine)". My Japanese friend said it's because when they use "食べる", they expect to see some "biting" action-you don't usually bite any medicine, you usually just swallow it, liquid or not.
But I don't know any details, though. I'm expecting a native speaker to provide more information.


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## Yendred

In French, we say in general cases "_prendre (un médicament)_" = _to take (medicine)_

For drinkable medicine, we may also say "_boire (un sirop pour la toux)_" = _to drink (a cough syrup)_

But for eatable medicine, we won't say "_manger (une pilule)_" = _to eat (a pill) _, but always "_prendre (une pilule)_" = _to take (a pill)
_
For neither drinkable nor eatable medicine (e.g. suppositories), we say "_mettre (un suppositoire)_" = _to put (a suppository)_


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## apmoy70

AndrasBP said:


> And you even "drink" tobacco and cigarettes, is that right?


We do that too, even drugs are "drinkable" in slang


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## djmc

One normally says takeof medecins. If the taste is particularly disgusting, or the pills enormous one might say "I take XYZ, but I have difficulty in swallowing it.


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## AndrasBP

Rallino said:


> In Turkish, we *drink* medicine: _ilaç içmek_. We drink syrup. We drink pills.


It's also common in colloquial Russian: пить лекарство (pit' lekarstvo - to drink medicine), but принимать лекарство (prinimat' lekarstvo - to take medicine) is also used.


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## bibax

Czech:

*bráti* (impf.), *vzíti si* (perf., with reflexive *si* in dative) = to take;

*užívati* (impf.), frequentative of *užíti* (perf.) = to use;

*Bere léky. Užívá léky.* = S/he takes/uses medicins (regularly).
*Vezmi si prášek na spaní!* = Take a sleeping pill!
also (to a little child)
*Spolkni ten prášek!* = Swallow the pill!


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## ThomasK

Dutch: the common verb is _*slikken*_, swallow. it might seem somewhat informal, but very common. We never eat any pills, we could say that we _*opdrinken*_ our medicine, but then that (_op/ up_)  mainly suggests finishing, not stopping because it does not taste well.


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## elroy

“take” in Arabic


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## Nicomon

Yendred said:


> But for eatable medicine, we won't say "_manger (une pilule)_" = _to eat (a pill) _, but always "_prendre (une pilule)_" = _to take (a pill)_


  I agree.  But I may also say :  _avaler (une pilule) =  to swallow (a pill)._


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## llamaalpama

In *Indonesia* we say "*minum obat*". *Minum* is *drink* and *obat* is *medicine*. We don't say *take* because reference from Indonesia dictionary (called KBBI), it just has one meaning *grab something *which we don't just grab but also put it in our mouth. For *eat*, we don't use it because reference from KBBI meas *to put things into mouth and chew it* while we don't chew medicine. Lastly for *drink *means *to put something liquid in mouth and gulp it*. So this is most relevant with activity take medicine.

I have my *subjective perspective* too for the reason we use drink. Ancient time, people in Indonesia don't have any chemical drug thus they make traditional medicine. They always make it into liquid and drink it. This *liquid traditional medicine* calls *jamu*. Because the form is liquid, they'll drink it. And it's become a habit for us as Indonesian to say it drink medicine.


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## Welsh_Sion

*Cymraeg/Welsh

'Cymryd'* (= 'taking') in all cases. But what you 'take' has various words depending on the nature of what has been prescribed.

*'Moddion' *- 'medication(s)' (South Wales, n.pl or n.m.)
*'Tabledi'* - 'tablets'
*'Pils'*/'Puls'* - 'pills' (Colloquial. Latter more Northern Welsh)
*'Ffisig' *- 'medicine' (Northern Welsh, colloquial)
*'Meddyginiaeth' *- 'medication' (Quite a formal word)


*Sorry, Czech readers, we don't, 'drink our pils' but 'take them'!


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## Awwal12

AndrasBP said:


> It's also common in colloquial Russian: пить лекарство (pit' lekarstvo - to drink medicine), but принимать лекарство (prinimat' lekarstvo - to take medicine) is also used.


It just should be noted that "принимать" is rather "to accept" than "to take" (although it's quite close).


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## Messquito

An additional verb for a different way of medication:
打藥 to inject medication
打 means to beat or to pump

e.g.:
打麻藥 to anesthesize
打禁藥 to dope
打類固醇 to take steroids
打生理食鹽水 to inject saline
打點滴 to put on drips


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## AutumnOwl

In  Swedish it's usually "ta" (take), for example "Vad tar du för mediciner?" (What medicines do you take?), when it's medicine one takes regularly, whether it's pills, injections, eye drops or in any other form. We can also use "äta" (eat), but that's often used for medicine taken for a short time, for example antibiotics, "just nu äter jag penicillin för en lunginflammation" (at the moment I'm eating penicillin for pneumonia).


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## Welsh_Sion

Interestingly enough, there is one tablet/pill which my mum takes where the instructions are clearly (in English) for her to 'chew' it. 

I suppose this really is not a question of language and linguistics, but rather the nature of the particular pill in question. Otherwise, I stand by my comments previously for Cymraeg/Welsh. (I suppose therefore in that instance I'd mention to my mum in Welsh that she would be obliged to 'chew' the said tablet - not to swallow it nor suck it, nor indeed any of the collocations previously mentioned.


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## Mahaodeh

elroy said:


> “take” in Arabic


Actually this is a modern use, and only in some dialects. Historically it was جَرَعَ الدواء = to drink it all in one gobble. They used to do that because most medicines were boiled herbs that could be very bitter. From this expression we came to call a single dose of medicine جرعة.

In most dialects they use يشرب الدوا = to drink it.


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