A2 · Elementary · Health · 141 words · ~2 min read

🩼 An Injury at the Physiotherapist

Language focus: Present Perfect · since / for & past simple

Before you read

This story mixes a finished past event with a condition that is still going on, which is exactly the situation the present perfect exists for. Track the moment the tense changes and ask yourself what has finished and what has not.

Hannah hurt her knee while she was running last Sunday. Since then, it has been painful, so she has booked an appointment with a physiotherapist.

“How did it happen?” he asks. “I didn’t warm up before my run,” Hannah admits. “I felt a sharp pain after two kilometres.”

“You have a small strain,” he says. “Don’t give up exercise completely, but rest for a week.” He shows her some gentle stretches.

“Build up your strength slowly, and use ice for the swelling,” he advises. Hannah feels much more hopeful about her recovery.

Hannah has been running for five years, and she has never had a serious injury before. She has entered a half marathon in October.

A week later, the knee is much better. She has done the stretches every morning, and she has not felt the sharp pain since Tuesday.

Key vocabulary (8 words)

injurynoun: Harm or damage to part of the body.
kneenoun: The joint in the middle of your leg.
painfuladjective: Causing pain; hurting.
strainnoun: An injury caused by stretching a muscle too far.
stretchnoun: An exercise that makes a muscle longer.
swellingnoun: A part of the body that has become larger because of injury.
recoverynoun: The process of becoming well again.
gentleadjective: Soft and careful, not strong or rough.

Phrasal verbs in this story

warm up — To warm up means to do gentle exercise to prepare your muscles.
give up — To give up means to stop doing something.
build up — To build up means to increase something slowly.

The grammar in this story

A past event, then a continuing result

“Hannah hurt her knee” — a single finished action, past simple. “Since then, it has been painful” — the pain started in the past and continues now, so the present perfect is required. Almost every injury story in English follows this two-step pattern.

Past continuous for the surrounding action

“Hannah hurt her knee while she was running.” The running was already in progress when the injury happened. This is the same background-and-event structure as the dinner party story, and it is the most natural way to explain how an accident occurred.

Negative past simple with didn’t

“I didn’t warm up before my run.” After didn’t, the verb returns to its base form — warm up, not warmed up. This is the single most common past-tense error at A2, and it also applies to questions: How did it happen?, not How did it happened?

warm up, give up, build up

Three phrasal verbs with up, and the particle means something different each time. Warm up = prepare your body. Give up = stop doing something permanently. Build up = increase gradually. The up is not decoration and cannot be dropped.

Phrases you can reuse today

I hurt my knee while I was running.: Past simple event inside a past continuous background.
It has been painful since Sunday.: Present perfect plus since for a continuing state.
Don’t give up completely.: Negative imperative plus phrasal verb.
Build up your strength slowly.: Build up = increase step by step.

Comprehension quiz

What did Hannah hurt?
- Her knee
- Her arm
- Her back
Show answer
Her knee
When did it happen?
- Last Sunday
- Last year
- This morning
Show answer
Last Sunday
What did she forget to do before running?
- Eat breakfast
- Warm up
- Buy shoes
Show answer
Warm up
What does she have?
- A broken bone
- A small strain
- A cold
Show answer
A small strain
What does the physiotherapist advise?
- Rest for a week
- Run a marathon
- Stop walking forever
Show answer
Rest for a week
“Give up” means to…
- stop doing something
- start again
- speed up
Show answer
stop doing something

Now use it yourself

Reading builds recognition; writing your own sentences is what turns it into something you can actually say. Three short tasks:

Describe an injury or illness using one past simple and one present perfect sentence.
Write three while I was … sentences about your week.
What advice would you give someone starting a new sport? Use should.