How do you say BE PATIENT in Italian?

How exactly do you say be patient in Italian? What is more appropriate to ask depending on the relationship between you and the other person?

In this lesson, we will take a look at the different ways you can translate this sentence into Italian. Read on to learn them all!

Let’s get started! Iniziamo!

how do you say be patient in italian - boy screaming at his phone

How do you say be patient in Italian?

Singular: Sii paziente!

Sii paziente is how you translate be patient in Italian when you are addressing only one person you know well and are on familiar terms with, such as a friend or relative.

Sii paziente!
Be patient! (singular, informal)

This common sentence in Italian is made up of two elements.

Sii
Imperative “you” form of essere, to be

Paziente
Translation of the adjective “patient”

Sii più paziente con gli anziani. Anche tu sarai anziano, un giorno.
Be more patient with the elderly. You too will be old one day.

Sii più paziente, Sandro. Non c’era bisogno di arrabbiarsi così.
Be more patient, Sandro. There was no need to get so upset.

angry man with a beer glass in his hand

Sii is the second-person singular conjugation of essere, to be, in the imperative mood.

Imperative mood conjugation of essere

io
tusii
lui, leisia
noisiamo
voisiate
lorosiano

Now, what do you have to say in Italian to tell a group of people to be patient? You need to conjugate the imperative verb in the second person plural. Let’s see what this form is in the next section.

Title: Italian All-in-One For Dummies
Language: English / Italian
Publisher: For Dummies
Pages: 672

Learn to speak Italian like a native? Easy.
Italian All-in-One For Dummies appeals to those readers looking for a comprehensive, all-encompassing guide to mastering the Italian language. It contains content from all For Dummies Italian language instruction titles, including Italian For Dummies, Intermediate Italian For Dummies, Italian Verbs For Dummies, Italian Phrases For Dummies, Italian Grammar For Dummies, and Italian For Dummies Audio Set.


Plural: Siate pazienti!

Siate pazienti is how you translate be patient in Italian when you are addressing more than one person. It doesn’t matter if these people are your bosses at work or friends of yours. You will use this form in both formal and informal contexts.

Siate pazienti!
Be patient! (plural)

Paziente has only two forms because adjectives ending in -e in Italian remain unchanged for both genders, but must match the number (singular/plural) of the noun they describe.

SingularPlural
MasculinePazientePazienti
FemininePazientePazienti

If a man is patient, you will say paziente because man, uomo, is a masculine noun in Italian.

Likewise, you’ll say paziente if you’re talking about a woman, donna, which is a feminine noun.

But paziente changes to pazienti when it comes to plural nouns of either gender.

For example, you could say…

Alessandro non è un tipo molto paziente.
Alessandro is not a very patient guy.

I miei nonni sono pazienti.
My grandparents are patient.

grandpa and grandma

In Italian, unlike English, there are two kinds of “you”. There’s a singular “you” (tu) and then there’s a plural “you” (voi). When addressing a group, you must conjugate any verb or pronoun accordingly.

If you take a closer look at the conjugation table above, you will see that the conjugation for the subject pronoun voi is siate. Therefore, we will say siate pazienti!

Siate pazienti con lui, è il suo primo giorno di lavoro qui.
Be patient with him, it is his first day of work here.

coworkers shunning another coworker

Now, how do you say be patient in Italian when you want to be polite? Read on to find out!

Aiuta Lingookies con un 👍!


Polite: Sia paziente!

If you are just visiting Italy and often meet new people, unless you both agree to use the informal pronoun tu, you will have to stick to the polite pronoun Lei when talking to other adults and people you are not familiar with. With children, it’s customary to use tu, regardless of the degree of familiarity.

This is the equivalent of she in English. Basically, when speaking formally, Italians address each other with the subject “she”, lei.

What is the imperative conjugation of the verb essere for the subject pronoun lei? Sia.

That said, how do you formally ask somebody to be patient in Italian?

Sia paziente!
Be patient! (polite)

For example, you could say…

Sia paziente, signore. Mi serve solo un’informazione.
Be patient, sir. I just need one piece of information.

And that’s the end of the lesson on how to say be patient in Italian in all its forms!


What next?

Now that you’ve seen how to say be patient in Italian, you might want to keep learning Italian online with these free Italian resources:

❤️ If you liked this lesson on how do you say be patient in Italian, consider sharing it with your social media friends who are also studying Italian.

Leave a Comment