Grammar for Healthcare Communication
Clear grammar helps healthcare professionals give instructions and ask questions that patients and colleagues can follow. This chapter reviews tenses, conditionals, indirect questions, and relative clauses in a workplace-communication setting. No clinical judgment is involved, only language usage.
Tenses for Ongoing Situations
When an action continues up to the present, use the present perfect continuous with 'since' or 'for': 'The patient has been waiting since nine o'clock.' The simple present or past does not express this ongoing sense.
Conditionals and Instructions
A first conditional handles real possibilities: 'If you feel any discomfort, please tell staff.' The 'if' clause uses the present simple, and the result is often an instruction rather than a prediction.
Indirect Questions and Relative Clauses
Polite indirect questions use question words inside a statement: 'Could you explain why the medication should be taken with food?' Relative clauses add detail: 'the letter, which was sent last week' uses 'which' for a thing.