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'Ho la febbre', 'ho il raffreddore': illnesses with the definite article

When you tell someone in Italian that you are ill, you normally use avere followed by the definite article: ho la febbre, ho l'influenza, ho il raffreddore, ho la tosse. Word for word, that is "I have the fever" or "I have the cold", which sounds odd to an English speaker.

English uses a (a cold, a fever, a cough) or no article at all (flu, measles, diarrhea). So learners tend to say ho un raffreddore or ho febbre. Neither is a serious mistake, but in everyday speech Italians reach for il, la or l' almost automatically.

Word list
influenzafA2 flu ho l'influenza = I have the flu raffreddoremA2 common cold ho il raffreddore = I have a cold cancromB1 cancer ho il cancro = I have cancer febbrefB1 fever ho la febbre = I have a fever tossefB1 cough ho la tosse = I have a cough singhiozzomB2 hiccup ho il singhiozzo = I have the hiccups artritefC1 arthritis ho l'artrite = I have arthritis coleramC1 cholera ha il colera = he has cholera diabetemC1 diabetes ho il diabete = I have diabetes insonniafC1 insomnia ho l'insonnia = I have insomnia (also: soffro d'insonnia) malariafC1 malaria ho la malaria = I have malaria nauseafC1 nausea ho la nausea = I feel sick pestefC1 plague aveva la peste = he had the plague polmonitefC1 pneumonia ho la polmonite = I have pneumonia tubercolosifC1 tuberculosis ha la tubercolosi = she has tuberculosis vertiginefC1 dizziness ho le vertigini (plural) = I feel dizzy diarreafC2 diarrhea ho la diarrea = I have diarrhea emicraniafC2 migraine ho l'emicrania = I have a migraine morbillomC2 measles ho il morbillo = I have measles rabbiafC2 rabies il cane ha la rabbia = the dog has rabies vaiolomC2 smallpox aveva il vaiolo = he had smallpox varicellafC2 chickenpox ho la varicella = I have chickenpox
How it works

The pattern is simple: avere + definite article + name of the ailment. The article agrees with the noun as usual: il raffreddore, la febbre, l'influenza. Italian treats the illness as a known, specific condition that you currently have, much as English treats "the flu" or "the measles".

Non vengo, ho la febbre.
(I'm not coming, I have a fever.)
Marco è a casa perché ha l'influenza.
(Marco is at home because he has the flu.)

Rule of thumb: when you translate "I have a ..." or "I've got ..." for a common illness, start with ho il, ho la or ho l'.

The words
Everyday complaints

The most common words are raffreddore, febbre, influenza and tosse, and you will use them all the time. Febbre often comes with the temperature: ho la febbre a 38.

Mia figlia ha il raffreddore e non va a scuola.
(My daughter has a cold and isn't going to school.)
Ho la tosse da una settimana.
(I've had a cough for a week.)
Stanotte ho avuto il singhiozzo per mezz'ora!
(Last night I had the hiccups for half an hour!)
In macchina ho sempre la nausea.
(I always feel sick in the car.)

Singhiozzo (hiccups), nausea, diarrea and emicrania (migraine) follow the same pattern: ha la diarrea, ho l'emicrania.

Childhood illnesses and infections

Morbillo (measles), varicella (chickenpox), polmonite and malaria also take the article. So do orecchioni (mumps) and otite (ear infection): ha gli orecchioni, ho l'otite.

Il bambino ha la varicella.
(The child has chickenpox.)
Da piccolo ho avuto il morbillo.
(I had measles as a child.)
Il nonno è in ospedale, ha la polmonite.
(Grandpa is in hospital, he has pneumonia.)
Long-term conditions

Chronic or serious conditions such as diabete, artrite and cancro work the same way.

Mio padre ha il diabete.
(My father has diabetes.)
Watch out

This is a strong preference, not a strict ban. When you add an adjective, the indefinite article is perfectly natural, because you are describing one particular episode:

Ho preso un brutto raffreddore.
(I caught a bad cold.)

With prendere (to catch) you can say both ho preso il raffreddore and ho preso un raffreddore. With nausea, both ho la nausea and plain ho nausea are common. Without an adjective, though, ho il raffreddore and ho la febbre are what Italians actually say.

Do not mix this up with mal di + body part, which takes no article: ho mal di testa (I have a headache), ho mal di gola (I have a sore throat).

Ho mal di testa e ho la febbre.
(I have a headache and a fever.)
Summary

To say you have a common illness, use avere + the definite article: ho il raffreddore, ho la febbre, ho l'influenza, ha la varicella. Switch to un or una only when you describe one particular episode with an adjective (un brutto raffreddore), and remember that ho mal di testa has no article at all.