Meaning & use
paracetamol
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountable
A common medicine used to reduce pain and lower a high temperature.
Grammar: Uncountable when talking about the substance: take paracetamol. Countable when talking about tablets: take a paracetamol.
Patterns
- take paracetamol
- a dose of paracetamol
The doctor told me to take paracetamol for my headache.
Paracetamol is often used to bring down a fever.
You can buy paracetamol without a prescription.
nouncountable
A tablet or dose of this medicine.
Grammar: Countable when it means one tablet or one dose: take two paracetamols.
Patterns
- take a paracetamol
- two paracetamols
She took a paracetamol and lay down.
The nurse gave him two paracetamols.
Word forms
| plural | paracetamols |
|---|
Common combinations
- take paracetamol
- Take paracetamol every four hours if the pain continues.
- a dose of paracetamol
- He measured out a dose of paracetamol for the child.
- paracetamol tablets
- She keeps paracetamol tablets in her bag.
- overdose on paracetamol
- Taking too much paracetamol can damage your liver.
Synonyms and how they differ
- acetaminophen
- The usual American name for the same medicine; use it in the US, but paracetamol is standard in the UK and most other countries.
- painkiller
- A general word for any medicine that reduces pain; paracetamol is one kind of painkiller.
- analgesic
- A more technical or medical word for a painkiller.
Commonly confused: paracetamol or ibuprofen? paracetamol or antibiotic?
paracetamol vs ibuprofen
Another common painkiller, but it also reduces inflammation; paracetamol does not.
paracetamol vs antibiotic
A medicine that fights bacteria; paracetamol does not fight infection.
Practice
Which sentence uses paracetamol correctly?
Choose one answer.
When you mean one tablet, paracetamol is countable, so 'a paracetamol' is correct. Option 2 is wrong because 'a' cannot go with a plural. Option 3 uses the wrong preposition. Option 4 is grammatical if you mean the substance in general, but the question asks for the sentence that uses it correctly as one tablet.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “paracetamol”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.