Be patient!

How do you say be patient in Italian?

Sii paziente!

Words you should know	Essere (to be) + paziente (patient)
When to use this	With 1 person you’re familiar with
When NOT to use this	With strangers (doh!) and groups

For example, you can say…

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

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Siate pazienti!

When to use this	With a group of people
When NOT to use this	With strangers (doh!) and 1 person at a time

In Italian, unlike English, there are two kinds of “you”. There is a singular “you” and then there is a plural “you”. If you’re speaking to a group, you’ll need to conjugate any verb or pronoun accordingly, and don’t forget the gender!

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.

	Singular	Plural
Masculine	Paziente	Pazienti
Feminine	Paziente	Pazienti

For example, you can say…

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

I miei nonni sono pazienti.
My grandparents are patient.

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

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Sia paziente!

When to use this	With 1 person you’re NOT familiar with
When NOT to use this	With friends, family and groups

When speaking formally, Italians address each other with the subject “she”, lei. Use Lei in the written form if you want to be very polite.

For example, you can say…

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

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