Patience vs. Patients How to Choose the Right Word

The words patience and patients are homophones: They sound the same but have very different meanings. The noun patience refers to the ability to wait or endure hardship for a long time without becoming upset. The noun patients is the plural form of patient—someone who receives medical care. There are a few tricks to learning which term to use and when. How to Use Patience Patience means having the capacity to be patient. Someone who is patient is not in a hurry and can wait calmly and in a relaxed manner for what comes next. Put another way, patience means not being hasty or impetuous. A sentence using the word might read: He had the patience to wait for three hours while his son was at football practice. How to Use Patients Use patients whenever you are talking about those who have been admitted to a hospital. Additionally, individuals who are under a doctors care or even those who visit a hospital emergency room. walk-in clinic, or doctors office for treatment are considered to be patients. A sentence using this term might read: Most doctors in private practice have to see many patients each day. Examples Using the terms in context in everyday language can give you a clearer picture of when to use patience or patients. As this anonymous quote makes clear: One thing a mother must always save for a rainy day is patience. Thinking of mothers as people who are willing to calmly endure many hardships, reminds you that, as a group, they show a lot of patience. By contrast, individuals dealing with the health system are often patients, as in: Growing numbers of patients are now sharing their medical data online. You might even combine the two terms in one sentence: Considering the state of todays health system, patients (those under medical care) have to show a lot of patience (the ability to wait calmly). How to Remember the Difference An easy mnemonic device you can use to help you remember when to use patience is embedded in its definition: To have patience, you have to be able to wait calmly. Both patience and calmly contain the letter c. By contrast, if you visit a doctor for treatment, you are a patient. Both a doctor and her patients contain at least one t. The Adjective Form of Patience What makes patience tricky is that its adjective form is patient. Because the adjective is spelled the same as the word for a person receiving medical care, the only way to distinguish between the two is by looking at the context of the sentence. For example, suppose you say: The doctor had many patients. Its clear that in this case, patients refers to those receiving medical care or being seen by a doctor. By contrast, you can say: The customers were very patient as they waited their turn in line. Its clear that the sentence is referring to customers who had the attribute of being patient. You can use both terms logically in a sentence: The patients were very patient as they waited for the doctor. In this case, the patients (individuals seeking medical care) were patient (showed a calm willingness to wait) to see the doctor. You can correctly use the noun form of each word and say essentially the same thing: The patients showed great patience as they waited to be seen by the doctor Practice To see if you understand the difference between patience and patients, take this brief quiz. The crisis in emergency care is taking its toll on doctors, nurses, and _____.Now look, Peggy. Im running out of money and Im running out of _____. Either you are going to marry me or not, and I want to know right now. (Barry Goldwater, quoted by John W. Dean in Pure Goldwater) Answers The crisis in emergency care is taking its toll on doctors, nurses, and  patients.Now look, Peggy. Im running out of money and Im running out of  patience. Either you are going to marry me or not, and I want to know right now. Sources Brown, Sarah. â€Å"Difference Between.†Ã‚  Difference Between Similar Terms and Objects, 19 Nov. 2018.Khan, Sumaiya. â€Å"These Rainy Day Quotes Will Make You Feel Happy in an Instant.  Quotabulary, Quotabulary, 4 Mar. 2018.â€Å"Patience vs. Patients: Whats the Difference?†Ã‚  Writing Explained, 19 Apr. 2017.