Spanish · Enfermedad
Your child is ill and you phone the nursery: what to say in Spanish
Your child is ill and you phone the nursery.
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How it's done. A sick child is not brought in; illness is reported in the morning by phone or app; for a contagious disease (enfermedad contagiosa) you must say what it is.Prepared by the Movko team, November 2026. This is language help, not legal or medical advice: check the rules with the office itself.
Cheat sheet for your visit
The first phrase is open: tap ▶ to listen, or “Show” to show it to the other person. The rest of the dialogue is in the course in the app.
1
THEY SPEAK FIRST
THEY SAY
Escuela infantil, buenos días.Es-koo-EH-luh een-fahn-TEEL, boo-EH-nos DEE-uhs.
Nursery, good morning.
YOU REPLY
Buenos días, soy la madre de Maks. Hoy no va a ir porque está enfermo.
Boo-EH-nos DEE-uhs, soy lah MAH-dreh deh Mahks. Oy noh bah uh eer POR-keh es-TAH ayn-FEHR-moh.
Good morning, I'm Maks's mother. He won't come today because he's ill.
THEY SAY
Vaya, lo sentimos. ¿Qué le pasa?BAH-ah, loh sayn-TEE-mos. Keh leh PAH-suh?
Oh, we're sorry. What's wrong?
They might also say:
Qué pena. ¿Qué le ocurre?
Keh PEH-nuh. Keh leh oh-KOOR-reh?
What a pity. What's the matter?
2
YOU REPLY
Tiene fiebre y tos.
TYEH-neh FYEH-breh ee tos.
He has a fever and a cough.
THEY SAY
Gracias por avisar. Que se mejore.GRAH-syuhs por uh-bee-SAHR. Keh seh meh-KHOH-reh.
Thanks for letting us know. Get well soon.
3
YOU FINISH
Gracias. Le aviso cuando esté mejor.
GRAH-syuhs. Leh uh-BEE-soh koo-AHN-doh es-TEH meh-KHOR.
Thanks. I'll let you know when he's better.
The course is in the app
This dialogue is part of the course “Spanish for life in Spain”: 416 situations with audio, a pronunciation guide and spaced review.
On the website the first dialogue, the 112 category, the rescue phrases and the “Basics” are fully open.
Words worth knowing
Escuela
Es-koo-EH-luh
noun
school
infantil
een-fahn-TEEL
adjective
children's
buenos
boo-EH-nos
adjective
good (masc. plural)
días
DEE-uhs
noun
days
soy
soy
verb
I am
madre
MAH-dreh
noun
mother
30 more words, with explanations, base forms and tap-a-word help, are in the app.
If you did not understand
¿Puede repetirlo, por favor?
Poo-EH-deh reh-peh-TEER-loh, por fuh-BOR?
Can you repeat that, please?
¿Puede hablar más despacio, por favor?
Poo-EH-deh uh-BLAHR mahs des-PAH-syoh, por fuh-BOR?
Can you speak more slowly, please?
Todavía no hablo bien español.
Toh-duh-BEE-uh noh AH-bloh byayn es-puh-NYOL.
I don't speak Spanish well yet.
Similar situations
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