The doctor and the chemist in Portuguese

The thirteenth entry is a vacina, and the gloss « the vaccination » fits the sentence beside it and misses half of what the word does. Portuguese uses one noun for two things English refuses to call by the same name. It is the substance in the vial — uma vacina nova, a vacina contra a gripe — and it is the event as well, the needle in the arm: A vacina é gratuita para todos, já tomei a vacina. English keeps those in separate words. « A vaccine » is only ever the preparation: it is developed, approved, stored cold — and it is never a thing anybody has or takes. « A vaccination » is the act, and with it the appointment and the line in the record book. Ordinary British speech adds a third word for that same act, « a jab »: you book a jab, you go for your flu jab, and no patient says they had a vaccine. The verbs keep the sides apart too. Portuguese says tomar a vacina, taking it as one takes a medicine, whereas in English the thing is done to you: you get vaccinated, or you have your jab.