Korean at the Doctor's: -을 때 (When) + Symptom Words
Korean -을 때 means “when / at the time of”: 아플 때 오세요 (come when you're sick). Learn it with the symptom and body words you need to describe a cold, fever, or cough at a Korean clinic.
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Written by Alvin Lim Certified Korean Language Teacher (Level 2)
At a Korean clinic, two things carry the visit: the symptom words (아프다 = to hurt, 열이 나다 = to have a fever, 기침이 나다 = to cough) and the grammar piece -을 때, meaning “when / at the time of” — 아플 때 오세요 (come when you’re sick). Put them together and you can walk into a 병원, answer 어디가 아프세요?, and describe a cold without panic.
In the last lesson you learned to navigate public places. The doctor’s office is one more — and the single most useful sentence pattern there is “when ___ happens,” which is exactly what -을 때 builds.
Ten words for the doctor’s office
Symptoms and body parts first — these are the words the doctor is listening for.
-을 때: saying “when” something happens
The ending -을 때 turns a verb into “when / at the time of doing it.” Attach it to the verb stem: consonant stem + 을 때, vowel stem + ㄹ 때. This is the everyday “when” — the moment a thing happens — and it’s all over a doctor’s visit: 아플 때 오세요 (come when you’re sick).
Consonant stem + 을 때: 밥을 먹을 때 = when (I) eat · 책을 읽을 때 = when reading Vowel stem + ㄹ 때: 아프다 → 아플 때 = when sick · 가다 → 갈 때 = when going 어리다 → 어릴 때 = when (I was) little — a super common phrase
The clause itself stays tenseless; the main verb sets the time. So 아플 때 병원에 가요 = “I go to the hospital when I’m sick” (habit), and 어릴 때 많이 아팠어요 = “When I was little, I was sick a lot” — the past lives in 아팠어요, not in 어릴 때. For a clearly finished moment you can also say 갔을 때 (when I went), built on the past stem 갔- + 을 때.
How is -을 때 different from -으면?
Both can become “when” in English, so this is worth a focused minute. -을 때 marks a time — the moment something is happening. -으면 marks a condition — “if / whenever,” a trigger. 아플 때 오세요 says “come at the time you’re sick”; 아프면 오세요 says “if you get sick, come.” Close in feeling, but Korean keeps the time-vs-condition line crisp.
아플 때 약을 먹어요 = I take medicine when I’m sick (the time it happens) 아프면 약을 먹어요 = I take medicine if/whenever I get sick (the condition) 시간이 있을 때 운동해요 (when I have time) vs 시간이 있으면 운동해요 (if I have time)
You’ll meet -으면 properly in the next lesson at the pharmacy. For now, hold this: 때 = a point in time, 면 = a condition.
At the clinic
Watch the symptom words and -을 때 work through one short visit:
Notice how 먹을 때 and 일어날 때 pin each symptom to a moment — exactly the information a doctor wants. String 열이 나요, 기침이 나요, 목이 아파요 together and you’ve described a textbook 감기 (cold) all on your own.
FAQ
When do I use -을 때 instead of -으면? -을 때 marks the TIME something happens — “when / while”: 밥을 먹을 때 = when (I’m) eating. -으면 marks a CONDITION — “if / whenever”: 밥을 먹으면 = if (I) eat. They overlap in English “when,” but Korean keeps them apart: use -을 때 for a moment in time (아플 때 = when sick), and -으면 for a condition or trigger (아프면 = if you get sick). For Chinese speakers: -을 때 ≈ 「…的時候」, -으면 ≈ 「如果／…的話」.
Why is it 아플 때 and not 아프 때? -을 때 attaches to the verb STEM, and a stem ending in a vowel takes just -ㄹ 때 (not -을 때). 아프다 → stem 아프- (vowel) → 아플 때. A stem ending in a consonant takes -을 때: 먹다 → 먹을 때, 읽다 → 읽을 때. So: vowel stem + ㄹ 때, consonant stem + 을 때 — the same -ㄹ/-을 split you already know from other Level 2 endings.
How do I tell a Korean doctor where it hurts? Use [body part] + 이/가 아파요: 머리가 아파요 (my head hurts), 배가 아파요 (my stomach hurts), 목이 아파요 (my throat hurts). For symptoms that “come out,” use 나다: 열이 나요 (I have a fever), 기침이 나요 (I have a cough), 콧물이 나요 (runny nose). The doctor will likely open with 어디가 아프세요? (where does it hurt?) or 어떻게 오셨어요? (what brings you in?).
Next: at the pharmacy — 아프면 이 약을 드시고, -으면 and -지 말다. Previous: getting around public places in Korean. Full path: curriculum hub.