How do you say "I can't breathe" in Spanish?

"No puedo respirar" or "Me falta el aire" (I am short of breath).

Respiratory Spanish Vocabulary

Pulmonary vocabulary for cough, shortness of breath, asthma, COPD, pneumonia, and other respiratory complaints.

English	Spanish	Audio
lungs	los pulmones
breathing	la respiración
shortness of breath	falta de aire / dificultad para respirar
cough	la tos
dry cough	tos seca
wet cough / productive cough	tos con flema
wheezing	silbido al respirar / sibilancias
phlegm / mucus	la flema / el moco
asthma	el asma
inhaler	el inhalador
pneumonia	la pulmonía / la neumonía
COPD	la EPOC
bronchitis	la bronquitis
tuberculosis	la tuberculosis
Do you smoke?	¿Fuma?
Breathe deeply.	Respire profundo.

"Falta de aire" is understood everywhere; "disnea" is chart-only and will draw a blank stare.
Characterise the cough by what comes up: "¿Tose con flema? ¿De qué color?"
Check inhaler technique rather than adherence alone — "Enséñeme cómo usa el inhalador" reveals more than "¿Lo usa?"

Build clinical fluency with structured dialogues, audio practice, and 38.25 AAFP CME credits.