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6 Most Common COVID Symptoms in Chinese + Medicine Against Them

by | Dec 20, 2022

6 Most Common COVID Symptoms in Chinese + Medicine Against Them

As Beijing, Shanghai and other cities in China are going through a wave of COVID infections, chances are you’re already ๐Ÿ‘ (้˜ณ yรกng), positive.

If not – hang in there!

This week, we’ve prepared a list of medicine items that can help you relieve the COVID-19 symptoms.

 

๐Ÿ‘ Why “Sheep”?

Before we begin, let’s clarify: what’s the deal with sheep?

๐Ÿ‘ ็พŠ (yรกng) sheep (similar to ้˜ณ yรกng, "positive') | That's Mandarin Blog

Turns out that the word “positive” in Chinese sounds identical to the word “sheep” (็พŠ, yรกng):

้˜ณ
yรกng
positive +

And since being “positive” is a rather serious and unpleasant matter, in order to avoid any discomfort or discrimination against people who’ve tested positive, the Chinese internet has adopted a soft, cute nickname “sheep” to refer to them. It can come in a variety of shapes, forms and emojis:

๐Ÿ‘ / โ€œ็พŠโ€ / yรกng

 

COVID Symptoms + Medicine

NOTE
We are a Chinese language school, not doctors, but we want to help. Use this list for reference, but in case you’re feeling really bad and/or cannot find the medicine you need, go to the hospital. This is the most secure way to get the right medicine.

 

01. High Fever

The first covid symptom that might require medicine is high fever:

ๅ‘็ƒง (fฤshฤo) to have a fever | That's Mandarin Blog

ๅ‘็ƒง
fฤshฤo
to have a fever
(lit. “to emit-heat”)

 

Antipyretics (general)

To reduce the fever, you’d want a medicine that can make the fever “retreat”:

้€€็ƒง่ฏ (tuรฌshฤoyร o) fever-reducing medicine; antipyretic | That's Mandarin Blog

้€€็ƒง่ฏ
tuรฌshฤoyร o
fever-reducing medicine; antipyretic
(lit. “to retreat-fever-medicine”)

The general recommendation is to take ้€€็ƒง่ฏ (tuรฌshฤoyร o) if the fever is higher than 38.5. Otherwise, it’s better to give your body a chance to fight the virus on its own.

Let’s look at the names of some common ้€€็ƒง่ฏ (tuรฌshฤoyร o).

 

Ibuprofen

ๅธƒๆด›่Šฌ (Bรน luรฒ fฤ“n) Ibuprofen | That's Mandarin Blog

ๅธƒๆด›่Šฌ
Bรน luรฒ fฤ“n
Ibuprofen

 

 

Paracetamol

ๅฏนไน™้…ฐๆฐจๅŸบ้…š (Duรฌ yว xiฤn ฤn jฤซ fฤ“n) Paracetamol | That's Mandarin Blog

ๅฏนไน™้…ฐๆฐจๅŸบ้…š
Duรฌ yว xiฤn ฤn jฤซ fฤ“n
Paracetamol

 

ๆ‰‘็ƒญๆฏ็—›
Pลซ rรจ xฤซ tรฒng
Paracetamol (loan word)

 

02. Muscle Pain / Soreness

Another unpleasant symptom might be muscle pain:

ๆต‘่บซ็–ผ / ๅ…จ่บซ็–ผ (hรบnshฤ“n tรฉng / quรกnshฤ“n tรฉng) body pain | That's Mandarin Blog

ๆต‘่บซ็–ผ / ๅ…จ่บซ็–ผ
hรบnshฤ“n tรฉng / quรกnshฤ“n tรฉng
body pain
(lit. “all over-body-hurts”)

 

In case you experience it, there’s a drug that can relieve the pain:

ๅคๆ–นๆฐจ้…š็ƒท่ƒบ่ƒถๅ›Š | That's Mandarin Blog

ๅคๆ–นๆฐจ้…š็ƒท่ƒบ่ƒถๅ›Š
Fรน fฤng ฤn fฤ“n wรกn ร n jiฤonรกng
Compound paracetamol and amantadine hydrochloride capsules

 

โš ๏ธ It’s not advised to take this drug together with paracetamol.

 

Besides this drug, ibuprofen and paracetamol can also help relieve the pain.

 

03. Runny / Stuffed Nose

One more unpleasant symptom can be a runny nose:

ๆต้ผปๆถ• (liรบ bรญtรฌ) runny nose | That's Mandarin Blog

ๆต้ผปๆถ•
liรบ bรญtรฌ
runny nose
(lit. “to flow-nose-mucus”)

Quite descriptive, isn’t it? In case you have it, these drops can help:

่ฅฟๆ›ฟๅˆฉๅ—ชๆปดๅ‰‚ (Xฤซ tรฌ lรฌ qรญn dฤซjรฌ) Cetirizine drops | That's Mandarin Blog

่ฅฟๆ›ฟๅˆฉๅ—ชๆปดๅ‰‚
Xฤซ tรฌ lรฌ qรญn dฤซjรฌ
Cetirizine drops

And in case you have a stuffy nose, or ้ผปๅกž (bรญsรจ), this spray seems helpful:

็พŸ็”ฒๅ”‘ๅ•‰ๅ–ท้›พๅ‰‚ (QiวŽng jiวŽ zuรฒ lรญn pฤ“nwรนjรฌ) Oxymetazoline nasal spray | That's Mandarin Blog

็พŸ็”ฒๅ”‘ๅ•‰ๅ–ท้›พๅ‰‚
QiวŽng jiวŽ zuรฒ lรญn pฤ“nwรนjรฌ
Oxymetazoline nasal spray

โš ๏ธ It’s not advised to use this spray for more than 7 days.

 

04. Sore Throat

Another common symptom is sore throat.

ๅ—“ๅญ็–ผ (sวŽngzi tรฉng) to have a sore throat | That's Mandarin Blog

ๅ—“ๅญ็–ผ
sวŽngzi tรฉng
to have a sore throat
(lit. “throat-hurts”)

ๅ’ฝ็—› yฤntรฒng โ€ข sore throat (a bit more official)
ๅ–ท้›พๅ‰‚ pฤ“nwรนjรฌ โ€ข spray

 

One of the recommended sprays against it is:

ๅผ€ๅ–‰ๅ‰‘ๅ–ท้›พๅ‰‚ (Kฤi hรณu jiร n pฤ“nwรนjรฌ) Kaihoujian spray | That's Mandarin Blog

ๅผ€ๅ–‰ๅ‰‘ๅ–ท้›พๅ‰‚
Kฤi hรณu jiร n pฤ“nwรนjรฌ
Kaihoujian spray

And there is a version of it for children, too:

ๅผ€ๅ–‰ๅ‰‘ๅ–ท้›พๅ‰‚๏ผˆๅ„ฟ็ซฅๅž‹๏ผ‰ Kฤi hรณu jiร n pฤ“nwรนjรฌ (รฉrtรณng xรญng) Kaihoujian spray (for children) | That's Mandarin Blog

ๅผ€ๅ–‰ๅ‰‘ๅ–ท้›พๅ‰‚๏ผˆๅ„ฟ็ซฅๅž‹๏ผ‰
Kฤi hรณu jiร n pฤ“nwรนjรฌ (รฉrtรณng xรญng)
Kaihoujian spray (for children)

 

05. Cough

ๅ’ณๅ—ฝ (kรฉsou) to cough | That's Mandarin Blog

ๅ’ณๅ—ฝ
kรฉsou
to cough

ๆญขๅ’ณ zhวkรฉ โ€ข to relieve cough
ๅŒ–็—ฐ huร tรกn โ€ข to reduce phlegm
ๅฃๆœๆถฒ kว’ufรบyรจ โ€ข oral liquid / syrup

To relieve cough, search for these cough syrups:

ๆƒ ่ฒๅฎๅฃๆœๆถฒ (Huรฌ fฤ“i nรญng kว’ufรบyรจ) Huifeining oral liquid | That's Mandarin Blog

ๆƒ ่ฒๅฎๅฃๆœๆถฒ
Huรฌ fฤ“i nรญng kว’ufรบyรจ
Huifeining oral liquid

็ฆๅฐ”ๅฏๅฎšๅฃๆœๆถฒ (Fรบ ฤ›r kฤ› dรฌng kว’ufรบyรจ) Forcodine oral liquid | That's Mandarin Blog

็ฆๅฐ”ๅฏๅฎšๅฃๆœๆถฒ
Fรบ ฤ›r kฤ› dรฌng kว’ufรบyรจ
Forcodine oral liquid

To reduce phlegm, these pills might be helpful:

ๆฐจๆบด็ดข (ฤ€n xiรน suว’) Ambroxol | That's Mandarin Blog

ๆฐจๆบด็ดข
ฤ€n xiรน suว’
Ambroxol

 

06. Loss of Taste / Smell

Finally, one last common symptom is:

ๅคฑๅŽปๅ‘ณ่ง‰ๅ’Œๅ—…่ง‰ (shฤซqรน wรจijuรฉ hรฉ xiรนjuรฉ) loss of taste and smell | That's Mandarin Blog

ๅคฑๅŽปๅ‘ณ่ง‰ๅ’Œๅ—…่ง‰
shฤซqรน wรจijuรฉ hรฉ xiรนjuรฉ
loss of taste and smell

Unfortunately, doctors online say there is no medicine against that. These senses come back naturally within a few weeks.

 

Bonus

“Yin” and “Yang”

Have you noticed how similar the characters for “negative” and “positive” are?

้˜ด
yฤซn
negative –

้˜ณ
yรกng
positive +

In order not to confuse the two, you can remember that:
๐ŸŒ› ้˜ด – “negative” is “cold”, with a moon (ๆœˆ) on the right;
โ˜€๏ธ ้˜ณ + “positive” is “hot”, with a sun (ๆ—ฅ) on the right.

TIP: If even that doesn’t help, remember that “negative” (้˜ด) is the one with tiny legs. You can still go to work/school/other public places if you’re negative.

 

Practice with Teachers

To discuss the most common medicine
with Chinese teachers,
book a free trial class with That’s Mandarin.

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