Patients or Patience?

Our Story

Search...

Patients or Patience?

What is the difference between "patients" and "patience"?
  • Patients. Patients are people receiving or registered to receive medical treatment.
  • Patience. Patience is the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious.
patience or patients?
Got it? Take a quick test.

More about "Patients" and "Patience"

The words "patients" and "patience" sound identical (i.e., they are homonyms), but their meanings are quite different.

Patients

The word "patients" is the plural of the singular "patient," which is a noun that means a person receiving or schedule to receive medical treatment.

Example sentences with "patients":
  • We should be concerned not only about the health of individual patients, but also the health of our entire society.
  • Patients know in a heartbeat if they're getting a clumsy exam.

Patience

The abstract noun "patience" means the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, problems, or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious. If someone demonstrates or has "patience," they are described as being "patient." In this sense, "patient" is an adjective so it is never written as "patients."

Example sentences with "patience":
  • Patience is not simply the ability to wait - it's how we behave while we're waiting.
  • Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.

"Patients" Is Always a Noun

As a noun, a "patient" receives medical treatment. As an adjective, "patient" means tolerant. In other words, it is the adjective of the noun "patience." This is the root of the confusion between the words "patients" and "patience."

If you see the word "patients," it always means more than one person receiving treatment. "Patients" has nothing to do with "patience."
Ready for the Test?
Here is a confirmatory test for this lesson.

This test can also be:
  • Edited (i.e., you can delete questions and play with the order of the questions).
  • Printed to create a handout.
  • Sent electronically to friends or students.

Help Us To Improve Grammar Monster

  • Do you disagree with something on this page?
  • Did you spot a typo?
Please tell us using this form.

See Also

adverse or averse? affect or effect? appraise or apprise? avenge or revenge? bare or bear? complement or compliment? dependant or dependent? discreet or discrete? disinterested or uninterested? e.g. or i.e.? envy or jealousy? imply or infer? its or it's? material or materiel? poisonous or venomous? practice or practise? principal or principle? cannot or can not? who's or whose? What are adjectives? List of easily confused words