# Bị + illness: suffer from in Vietnamese (A2)

> Bị before an illness says it has happened to you, and that it's unwelcome: Em bị cảm (I've caught a cold), Anh ấy bị sốt (he has a fever), Chị bị dị ứng…

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/bi-bad-state/ · Updated 2026-10-17

**suffer from**

Pattern: `[person] + (bị) + đau / sốt + … · [person] + bị + cảm / cúm · [thing] + (hơi) bị + [bad adjective]`

Level: A2 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: bi

Saigon: bị bệnh | Hà Nội: bị ốm

*Bị* before an illness says it has happened to you, and that it's unwelcome: *Em bị cảm* (I've caught a cold), *Anh ấy bị sốt* (he has a fever), *Chị bị dị ứng* (I have an allergy). English says "have" here, but Vietnamese doesn't use *có*.

For being ill in general, Saigon says *bị bệnh*: *Hôm nay em bị bệnh.* In Hà Nội it's *bị ốm*, and *bệnh* is kept for a longer illness. In the South *ốm* means thin, so stick to *bệnh* there.

Before *đau* (hurt, ache) and *sốt* (fever), *bị* is often dropped: *Em đau đầu quá.* I've got a terrible headache. With *cảm* (a cold) and *cúm* (flu), keep it.

The same *bị* goes before other things that have gone wrong: *bị ướt* (got wet), *bị dơ* (got dirty), and for machines *bị hư* (broken): *Máy lạnh bị hư rồi.* In Hà Nội, *dơ* is *bẩn* and *hư* is *hỏng*. With *hơi* in front it means "rather, a bit too": *Cái áo này hơi bị chật.* (Before a good word, young people use *hơi bị* as slang for "really": *hơi bị ngon*.)

To say gently that you're not well, use *không được khỏe*: *Dạo này chị không được khỏe.* And before an action, *bị* says something bad was done to you: *bị phạt*, got fined. That's a neighbouring pattern.

## A common mistake

✗ Em có cảm.

✓ Em bị cảm.

English says "have a cold", but an illness takes *bị*, not *có*.

## Examples

- Saigon: Hôm nay em bị bệnh, không đi làm được. | Hà Nội: Hôm nay em bị ốm, không đi làm được. — I'm sick today, so I can't go to work.
- Em bị cảm mấy ngày nay. — I've had a cold for a few days.
- Saigon: Con đau bụng quá, má ơi. | Hà Nội: Con đau bụng quá, mẹ ơi. — Mum, my tummy really hurts.
- Saigon: Máy lạnh bị hư rồi. | Hà Nội: Điều hòa bị hỏng rồi. — The air conditioner's broken.

## Words in this pattern

- [bị](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/bi-suffer/#lx_bi): suffer

## Compare

- [Passive for bad things: bị + (doer) + verb](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/bi-passive/): is …ed (unwelcome)
- [OK, fine: được as 'good enough'](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/duoc-ok/): fine, acceptable
- [Get (good) or suffer (bad): được / bị + noun](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/duoc-bi-receive/): receive / suffer

Previous in Là, có, and how verbs work together: [Become: trở thành + noun, trở nên + adjective](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/tro-thanh-nen/)
Next in Là, có, and how verbs work together: [Being used to: quen + verb, quen với](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/quen-used-to/)

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