A tonsillitis, as the name suggests, Is an infection of the tonsils. Now like any infections, tonsillitis can present as a median of symptoms. You have fever, you can have body pain. But the most commonest symptom which usually brings the patient to the ENT doctor is that you have throat pain when you swallow. This is very typical. We call this odynophagia which means when you swallow, you have throat pain. But yes, you can describe it by many terms. Your symptoms can vary according to yourself.