pacientes
/paθjentes/from spelling rules
The English phrase 'patients' is translated into Spanish as pacientes.
pacientes refers to people who are receiving medical treatment from a doctor or hospital. Note that paciente can also function as an adjective for someone who is 'patient' (showing patience).
Is it said differently in some regions?
In some Latin American countries, the term clientes may be used informally instead of pacientes or enfermos.
How does it change in a sentence?
The singular form of the noun is paciente. The plural form is created by adding -s to the singular form. To say 'the patients', use the masculine plural article los with the noun. If the group of patients consists only of women, use the feminine plural article las.
How do you pronounce it?
/paθjentes/
Did you know?
- The word paciente is a cognate with the English word 'patient', and both derive from the Latin patiens, meaning 'one who suffers' or 'one who endures'.
- In some professional medical contexts in Spain, doctors may refer to their pacientes as casos when discussing them as clinical cases during rounds.
- Because paciente is both a noun and an adjective, a sentence like El paciente es paciente translates to 'The patient is patient'.
Examples in context
- Tom era uno de mis pacientes.Tom was one of my patients.This sentence uses pacientes to describe a person's relationship to a doctor.Tatoeba #2976038 by marcelostockle, translation #2643879 by CK
- Tres pacientes murieron anoche.Three patients died last night.This sentence uses pacientes to discuss a medical event involving multiple people.Tatoeba #5140846 by don_ramon, translation #4497280 by CK
- No quise molestar a los pacientes.I didn't want to disturb the patients.This sentence uses pacientes to describe a desire not to disturb a group of people.Tatoeba #8014810 by Seael, translation #3727609 by CM
- Los pacientes en la sala de espera deben completar estos formularios antes de ser atendidos.The patients in the waiting room must complete these forms before being seen.
- Necesitamos más medicamentos para los enfermos en la sala de cuidados intensivos.We need more medication for the patients in the intensive care unit.
- 28 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Javier and Elena are discussing the hospital workload.
- Javier¿Cómo están los pacientes hoy?How are the patients today?
- ElenaEstán un poco cansados, Javier.They are a little tired, Javier.
- JavierEntiendo, ¿necesitan algo más?I see, do they need anything else?
- ElenaSolo necesitan que revises sus medicinas.They just need you to check their medicines.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
