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"to suffer" in seven languages

Meaningto suffer

Spanish

sufrir

/suˈfɾiɾ/

inherited

French

souffrir

/sufʁiʁ/

inherited

Irregular: je souffre, j'ai souffert.

Italian

soffrire

/sofˈfrire/

inherited

Past participle sofferto.

Portuguese

sofrer

/soˈfɾeh/

inherited

Romanian

suferi

/sufeˈri/

inherited

Catalan

patir

/pəˈti/

other source · Latin PATĪ 'to suffer, endure'

Sofrir exists but is more formal; patir is the everyday verb.

English

suffer

/ˈsʌfɚ/

from Latin/French · Anglo-French suffrir

English → Italianto suffersoffrireCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

*SUFFERĪRE (Classical SUFFERRE)‘to bear up under, endure’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

Classical SUFFERRE 'to carry from beneath' was irregular, so spoken Latin moved it into the regular -ĪRE class. The old meaning 'to put up with' survives in English insufferable.

English relatives: sufferance, insufferable; offer, transfer (FERRE)

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In a sentence

  • esSufre de dolores de cabeza.
  • frElle souffre de maux de tête.
  • itSoffre di mal di testa.
  • ptEla sofre de dores de cabeça.
  • roSuferă de dureri de cap.
  • caPateix mals de cap.
  • enShe suffers from headaches.

More in Core verbs

All Core verbs words