paciencia
nounCEFR B2
What does “paciencia” mean in English?
patience — the capacity to accept delays or difficulties without frustration
patience — the capacity to accept delays or difficulties without frustration (tener paciencia; perder la paciencia)
Example sentences
Enseñar a niños con necesidades especiales requiere una paciencia y dedicación excepcionales.
Teaching children with special needs requires exceptional patience and dedication.
Llevaba tres horas esperando en la consulta y ya estaba empezando a perder la paciencia.
She had been waiting three hours at the clinic and was starting to lose her patience.
Tiene la paciencia de Job: nunca le he visto enfadarse, por muy difícil que sea la situación.
He has the patience of Job — I have never seen him lose his temper, however difficult the situation.
How to use it
La paciencia (noun, feminine) means 'patience' — the capacity to accept delays or difficulties without frustration. Key collocations: tener paciencia; perder la paciencia; la paciencia de Job (proverbial extreme patience); ¡Ten paciencia!; falta/virtud de la paciencia. Distinguish from tolerancia (tolerance — accepting differences) and perseverancia (perseverance — sustained effort over time). Perder la paciencia is the key productive verbal collocation.
Common mistake
Tener paciencia (not *tener la paciencia — usually without article when expressing general quality). Perder la paciencia = to lose one's patience (article required with perder). Paciente (patient) is both the adjective (patient person) and the noun (medical patient) — context disambiguates. 'Patience' as a card game = solitario.