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Sasha
Professional TeacherDo you say "consult with a doctor" or "consult the doctor"?
First of all, I am really sorry that you’ve caught cold. If you’re working hard on getting well, but none of a medicine you use is helping, I highly recommend you to consult with a doctor. Find specialist who will tell you: what pills you need, what to do while you’re ill and how to not catch sickness next time.
1. Is there any way I can say 'catch cold'? I guess there always has to be 'catch a cold', right?
2. Is it possible to use 'a' with medicine? Personally, I think it's wrong.
3. Do you say "consult with a doctor" or "consult the doctor"?
Jul 3, 2020 2:46 PM
Answers · 12
1
Hello :-)
I realise you've got answers coming out of your ears for this one, but I'm going to give you my two penn'orth, just on the last one - I think "consult your doctor" sounds best, but it's maybe even more usual to say "see your doctor" or (especially at the moment) "speak to your doctor".
You also don't really talk about "catching (a) sickness": you would be more likely to say "catch an infection" or "catch an illness". As the sentence has just used the word "ill", I'd say "catch an infection".
July 3, 2020
1
Hello Sasha!
To my understanding I would say that "consulting with a Dr" is used when talking about someone else visiting a Dr for a specific reason.
And
I would use "consulting a doctor" when talking about the act of asking the Dr for his medical help.
I hope that helps!
July 3, 2020
1
1. "you've caught a cold" works best
2. use "the medicine" rather than "a medicine" - definite, as you are referring to the actual medicine being taken
3. I recommend *that you*....
consult with a doctor
consult a doctor
consult your doctor
are all ok.
consult the doctor doesnt sound right in this context
July 3, 2020
1
Hi Sasha,
In answer to your questions:
1. You can only "catch a cold", never without the indefinite article.
2. You would never say "a medicine", only "medicine" or "the medicine" (In your paragraph above it would be "the medicine").
3. You could use either "a doctor" or "the doctor". I guess there is a slightly nuanced difference between the two but they are basically interchangeable.
On reading the paragraph before your specific questions, I would add some other corrections:
1. "I highly recommend you to consult with..." is an incorrect structure. You should say instead "I highly recommend that you consult with..."
2. "Find specialist" should be "Find a specialist"
3. You would not say "catch sickness", but rather "... how not to fall sick next time", or better "how to avoid falling sick again" or "how to avoid becoming sick again".
I hope this helps!
All the best for your language learning!
Jeremy
July 3, 2020
consult the doctor
July 3, 2020
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Sasha
Language Skills
English, French, Russian, Ukrainian
Learning Language
English, French, Russian, Ukrainian
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