The English words sick and ill

—   Hello, boys and girls! My name is James.

—   And my name is Martin.

—   Nathaniel is also with us today.

—   Welcome to our lesson!

—   Today we would like to tell you one story.

—   It’s connected to Martin’s neighbor Michael who works at a travel agency.

—   Yesterday James, Martin and I went to the park.

—   There we met Michael.

—   He invited us to his house, and we accepted his invitation.

—   When we came to his house, we saw a beautiful and lovely parrot.

—   It was multicolored, its tail was really long.

—   In a few minutes we all started talking.

—   Listen to our conversation and you’ll guess the topic of the lesson.

—   Michael, thank you for your invitation.

—   We are so pleased!

—   Yeah! And your parrot is so sweet. Can it speak?

—   Yes, of course. You can talk to him if you want.

—   Cool!

Martin, James and Nathaniel came closer to the parrot.

—   Hello there.

—   Hello there!

—   What’s your name?

—   My name is Angel.

—   How are you, Angel?

—   I’m fine. How are you?

—   Wow. I’m fine too, thank you! Michael, it’s cool.

—   Your parrot is awesome.

—   Oh, Michael, where is your wife Kate?

—   Kate… Kate is sick. Kate is sick. Kate is sick.

—   Oh, no, Angel. Kate is ill, but not sick.

—   Kate is sick. Kate is sick. Kate is sick. Kate is sick.

—   Angel, stop it. She is ill.

—   Oh, poor parrot! Angel doesn’t know about the difference between these two words.

—   Angel doesn’t know. Angel doesn’t know. Angel doesn’t know.

—   Don’t worry, Angel. We will tell you about the difference between the words “ill” and “sick” in a few minutes.

As you can understand, today in the lesson we will:

·        discuss what the words “sick” and “ill” have in common;

And

·        talk about the difference between them.

—   All right, Angel. Fly to me. Martin, James and Nathaniel will tell you about the words “sick” and “ill” in detail.

—   Okay.

—   Great! Let’s start our lesson.

—   First of all, Angel, we will tell you what the words “sick” and “ill” have in common.

Initially, the words “ill” and “sick” appear to be synonymous with one another, giving the reader the same message. Someone is not in good health.

We use both words “ill” and “sick” after a verb such as be, become, feel, look or seem.

For example:

Jillian was ill for a time last year, but she is fine now.

Walter looks ill. I wonder what’s wrong with him.

Or

Robin felt sick and had to go to hospital at lunchtime.

—   Angel, now you know what the words “ill” and “sick” have in common.

—   Let’s talk about the difference between these two words.

—   Great! Great! Great!

The words “ill” and “sick” are similar in meaning but have clear differences in their usage. It is important to get to know each word in its own right to begin to understand the differences in their everyday use.

We can use the word “sick” before a noun, but we don’t normally use the word “ill” before a noun.

Let’s compare two examples:

1. Peter has been looking after a sick child this week, so he’s not at work.

And

2. Peter has been looking after an ill child this week, so he’s not at work.

The right variant.

The wrong variant.

The word “sick” can be used when someone is physically sick and vomits.

For example:
Benjamin has eaten bad food and he has just been sick.

Or

Mum, I feel sick! I think that salad wasn’t fresh.

“Sick” is the less formal. It usually describes short-term diseases or ailments, like the flu. It’s commonly used to refer to a feeling of nausea. In this case we can talk, for example, about a sick child that stays at home instead of going to school or a person who feels sick after a roller coaster ride.

There are many idioms and abstract uses of the word “sick”. This is probably due to the fact that “sick” is the less formal of the two words.

You can read about being sick and tired of something. There are sick jokes. You can also hear about being sick to your stomach or sick with fear. Sick to death and worried sick are also idioms showing how worried a person can be.

Let’s look at the examples:

Mason is sick of eating salad. He has eaten it every day this week.

Or

Felix, I’m sick and tired of all the complaints about you.

There are also some forms of motion sickness like airsick, carsick, seasick or travelsick. All these expressions relate to types of malady. These types of sickness usually cause the victim to vomit.

For example:

Veronica doesn’t like going long distances in the car because she gets carsick.

Or

Conditions during the transit were awful, so most of the marines became seasick.

If a person misses his or her home, we can say that this person is homesick.

For example:

As Jennifer read her mother's letters, she began to feel more and more homesick.

Or

Megan was homesick during her first semester at college.

We usually use the word “ill” when we talk about feeling unwell in general. In the UK, we tend to use “ill” when we refer to actual physical ailments.

For instance:

Don't talk nonsense! She is so far too ill to return to work!

Or

It was a shock for me to see Hannah looking so ill.

“Ill” is used to talk about diseases and ailments that require medical treatment or hospitalization.

For instance:
Julia is ill in hospital with a chest infection.

Or

These patients are seriously ill and need relevant medical treatment.

The word “ill” is more formal and is used to describe long- and short-term diseases or ailments. If a person is not in good health because of something serious like cancer or pneumonia, we can say that this person is ill. On the other hand, a person who is affected with a minor fever or cold can also be called ill.

The most popular expressions with the word “ill” are “ill health” and “mentally ill”. “Ill” is the preferred word in such cases, though “sick” can be used in its place.

For instance:

My best friend Cody retired at 55 because of his ill health.

Or

Mentally ill patients will be under the care of a psychiatrist.

As we know, the main translation of the word “ill” is “больной, нездоровый”. But it can also be translated as “плохой, дурной, пагубный”.

Let’s look at some popular phrases with the word “ill” in the meaning “bad, harmful”.

1. Ill news.

The translation is “дурные вести, плохие новости”.

For instance:

Logan, pardon me for bringing you this ill news.

2. Ill luck.

The translation is “неудача, невезение”.

For instance:

Bobby, I think I have ill luck!

3. Ill results.

The translation is “плохие результаты”.

For instance:

Ian, do you think dad covered up those ill test results for me?

4. Ill fortune.

The translation is “несчастье, неудача”.

For instance:

Oh, Kelly, don’t think about it! It was just ill fortune.

5. Ill feelings.

The translation is “обида, враждебность”.

For instance:

Jacob, I have no ill feelings! So, let’s forget about this accident.

6. Ill effects.

The translation is “пагубные последствия, вредное воздействие”.

For instance:

Ethan, that cat can eat almost anything with no ill effects.

7. Ill fame.

The translation is “дурная слава, плохая репутация”.

For instance:

His bravery had redeemed much of his earlier ill fame.

And

8. Ill humor.

The translation is “плохое настроение”.

For instance:

Don’t talk to Grace! She’s in an ill humor.

—   Well, Angel… That’s all you need to know about the words “ill” and “sick”.

—   Do you understand all the information?

—   Yes. Angel is a smart parrot!

—   Ha-ha. Of course, you are!

—   Angel, can you tell us now where Kate is?

—   Yes! Kate is sick. Kate is sick.

—   What?

—   Angel, we thought you understood the rule!

—   It’s a joke. Kate is ill. Kate is ill.

—   Ha-ha. Angel, you are so funny!

—   Well, Michael, we have to go now.

—   Yeah, we have some business to do.

—   See you later.

—   Bye.

—   That’s all for today!

—   We hope you liked the lesson.

—   See you soon.