The words patient and patience create a space of confusion between them. They are not significantly different, yet not precisely similar.
We can use these words in various places; however, using one of these words in the area of another might change the whole meaning of that sentence.
Key Takeaways
- Patience is the ability to wait calmly in the face of delays or difficulties while a patient receives medical treatment or care.
- Patience is a virtue that can be cultivated through practice and mindfulness, whereas being a patient is a temporary state of being.
- Developing patience can lead to better emotional regulation and stress management while being a patient requires seeking medical care and following medical advice.
Patience vs Patient
Patience is the ability to endure delay or hardship without becoming frustrated or upset. “Patient” can also describe a person who can remain calm and composed in a challenging situation, demonstrating patience.
The word patient is an adjective.
We can use this word to describe the state of a person. It illustrates that a person is calm and not frustrated.
He is handling a particular situation calmly. However, the word “patient” has one more meaning, i.e., a sick person admitted to a hospital.
An example of a sentence is: “Caroline is a patient girl”, etc.
Patience is a noun. It means the ability to wait with calmness without getting frustrated.
It is a person’s behaviour that shows how that person can behave in bad situations.
There are three different types of patience known.
They are interpersonal patience, life hardship patience and daily hassles patience. We can use the word “patience” in a sentence: “Please don’t cry, have patience”, etc.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of comparison | Patience | Patient |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | It refers to the ability to wait with calmness without getting frustrated. | It describes a person who is calm and not hasty. |
| Parts of speech | It is a noun. | It is an adjective. |
| Signification | It refers to something that a person can have. | It refers to something a person can be. |
| Types | Three types: interpersonal patience, life hardship patience and daily hassles patience. | Does not have any time. |
| Examples | Patience is the key to success. | It would be best if you stayed patient till the result came. |
What is Patience?
The word patience is a noun.
It merely means the ability to wait with calmness without getting frustrated. It is the capability or capacity to deal with and accept suffering or problematic situations without being anxious or annoyed.
A person is said to have patience when he can wait for what he wants to do peacefully without creating any nuisance.
As per research by Sarah Schnitker, a psychologist, it comes in 3 main varieties, i.e. interpersonal patience, life hardship patience and daily hassles patience.
Interpersonal patience refers to relationships with other people. Some people are not very calm; they tend to get angry at everything.
To handle a relationship with that person, one has to have patience, which is called interpersonal tolerance. Sometimes people might go through a bad phase in their life, like a failure of the business and many more things.
Going through this phase of life peacefully and without getting frustrated is life hardship patience. The third type, i.e., daily hassle patience, refers to staying calm in everyday problems.
Patience is an abstract noun which refers to a character trait.
It is sometimes confused with the word “patient”, which is its adjective. Some examples of using “patience” in a sentence: “kindness, patience and understanding cannot be repaid”, “patience is the key to understanding”, etc.
What is Patient?
The term patient is an adjective which can be used to describe a person who is calm and not hasty. Someone who can handle the problems peacefully.
It is a state of a person. They are patient results in the good mental health of a person. They should handle every situation in their life patiently and not get furious about it.
A patient person is good at maintaining relationships with others; because of this quality, everyone likes them.
These people eventually achieve their life goals because they are patient and never lose hope.
However, the word “patient” also has another meaning.
A person who is sick and is admitted to the hospital is also referred to as a patient. Here the word “patient” is a noun.
The noun and adjective patient are confused with each other since they are homonyms- having similar spellings but different meanings.
For example:
1) “The patient in room-1 is feeling better today “; here, the word patient refers to someone who is not well.
2)” Sonakshi is a very patient girl”.
Here the term patient refers to the quality of a person.
Main Differences Between Patience and Patient
- Patience is the ability to stay calm and tolerate difficult situations without annoyance. At the same time, the term patient refers to a person’s quality.
- Patience is a noun, whereas the word patient is an adjective.
- Patience is something that one can have.
- In contrast, the patient is something that one can be.
- They are used in a sentence differently.
- For example, ” it is good to keep patience in a difficult situation” and “the judge asked the people to be patient for the result”.
- The word patience has only one meaning. In contrast, the word patient has two different meanings.
- https://brill.com/content/books/10.1163/ej.9789004158511.i-301.69/
- https://www.nature.com/articles/bjc2015452/
Last Updated : 11 June, 2023
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Emma Smith holds an MA degree in English from Irvine Valley College. She has been a Journalist since 2002, writing articles on the English language, Sports, and Law. Read more about me on her bio page.
This post is quite informative and well-structured; the definitions are clear and the examples are very helpful.
I couldn’t agree more. These distinctions are commonly confused and this article brings light into the subject.
I don’t see the point of the whole article, I didn’t find it interesting.
I agree, it didn’t engage me at all.
I think the usefulness of the article is subjective, it’s not that clear-cut.
This post is too technical for something that should be simple!
I disagree, it’s a complex subject, so the technical explanation is needed.
I totally agree, it’s way too complicated.
I expected to read a more clever viewpoint on the subject; my expectations were too high.
I know, the article is not as brilliant as I thought it would be.
This post does a great job at distinguishing between the two terms; the author provides vivid examples which make the concepts easy to understand.
This is very educational; I found many new details that I haven’t read before. It’s very clear, and these examples help clarify the meanings.
I disagree. The post is long and repetitive. The two terms are very similar so they should be easier to distinguish.
The author does a good job of explaining complex concepts.
Absolutely, it really helped clarify some doubts.
I think the post is a bit pedantic. It could be simplified and remain just as helpful.
The definitions of the terms are incredibly precise and well-written, I found this post to be very useful.
Definitely, it made me reconsider my views on the topic.
I think the definitions could be improved, I still feel confused.
Although I see the point of view, the definitions of the terms are very clear to me.
I think the definitions could be clearer, I’m not entirely convinced.
Yes, the definitions are very well stated, it’s very clear.
What a thorough explanation! The article offers very detailed information and I learned a lot.
Agreed. I finally understand the difference between patience and patient through this post.
Not really, I think the examples are confusing. I prefer a simpler explanation.
I didn’t find this post to be very enlightening at all.
Me neither. I expected a deeper analysis.