How to reply to health news in a personal English email (B2): warm phrases and present perfect simple or continuous

A five-part plan for your reply

In 140–190 words, give each part one to three sentences:

• Respond to the news: “I was so sorry to hear about your fall. What a relief nothing is broken!”
• Your own update, briefly: “Things have been busy here: I’ve just started a new project at work.”
• A relevant question: “Have you been able to sleep properly?”
• A warm close: “Take care, and give my love to the kids.”
• A PS only for a request or an offer: “PS I can bring some shopping on Saturday if that helps.”

Responding warmly without giving medical advice

Match the phrase to the news, and leave treatment to doctors:

• Bad news: “I’m so sorry to hear you’ve been unwell.”
• Good news: “I’m so glad you’re feeling better.”
• Mixed news: “It must have been frightening, but it sounds as if you’re over the worst.” Over the worst means the hardest part has passed.
• Ask, don’t prescribe: “Have you been able to see a doctor?”, not “You should take antibiotics.”
• Offer help: “Is there anything I can do?”

Health words that make your news precise

Precise collocations tell a friend what actually happened:

• Have a cold, have flu, have a sore throat. In British English, have a temperature means have a fever.
• A sprained ankle has been hurt by twisting; a swollen one is bigger than normal.
• Feel dizzy, faint (pass out briefly), come round (wake up again).
• In British English, feel sick means you might vomit; in American English, sick usually just means ill.

Present perfect simple: results, experience and amounts

Use the simple form when a finished action, its result or a number matters now:

• Already and yet: “The nurse has already reviewed the notes but has not arrived yet.”
• Experience: “Have you ever fainted? I have never broken a bone.”
• After a superlative: “This is the worst headache I have ever had.”
• Amounts: “I’ve phoned the clinic three times this morning.”
• States with for or since (know, be, have meaning own): “I have known my doctor for twelve years.”

Present perfect continuous: duration and activity

Use the continuous form when the activity, its length or its unfinished state matters.

Be ready to explain one choice in a sentence: “I chose ‘I’ve been resting’ because the rest is still going on.”

• Still going on: “He has been coughing since Tuesday.”
• Repeated over a period: “I have been checking my temperature all morning.”
• Visible evidence: “Her shoes are muddy because she has been walking outside.”
• Process versus result: “I’ve been writing a checklist” (not finished) versus “I’ve written to the clinic” (done).

Hear the contrast in a short exchange

Two colleagues are rehearsing when one feels unwell. Why is “hardly drunk any water” simple, but “has been running since early morning” continuous?

The amount matters in the first; the heating is still on in the second.

Common mistakes

Check your draft for these:

• “I am ill since Monday.” Say “I have been ill since Monday.”
• “I have seen the doctor yesterday.” A finished time needs the past simple: “I saw the doctor yesterday.”
• “Since two days.” Say “for two days” or “since Tuesday”.
• A diagnosis: “It’s probably an allergy, so take antihistamines.” Ask “What did the doctor say?”

A 10-minute daily routine

Use real or invented news; write the full reply at the weekend.

• 3 minutes: write three sentences about your week with just, since and the continuous.
• 3 minutes: switch one sentence between simple and continuous and say how the meaning changes.
• 4 minutes: answer one question aloud, with a reason: “Is a message or a phone call better when a friend is ill?” “How much health detail is it fine to share by email?”

What comes next

Next at B2: turn a 50-word core into a short story, then write a balanced post about adventure courses. At C1, write a reflective article about a memory that changed.