Suffer from

Suffer from

Today, you’re going to learn the English expression “suffer from.” It’s a little different from simply the word “suffer.”

“Suffer” is a verb; it means to experience pain , distress , or hardship . People suffer in a war. People suffer in a pandemic . People suffer in a famine . The pain, the distress, the hardship can be a general condition, or something that’s unsaid . We don’t need to say why people experience pain and hardship in a famine; we know why. We don’t need to say why, or how exactly, people suffer in a war. We know why. It’s unsaid.

“Suffer from” is similar but a little different. With “suffer from,” you’re talking about experiencing a specific negative condition . And you always say the negative condition after “suffer from.”

Beethoven suffered from hearing loss . He had a specific negative condition: hearing loss. And he experienced pain or distress from it. He suffered from hearing loss. He also suffered from liver disease . He had these specific negative conditions. We say “suffer from” plus the condition.

Now I want to pause here and tell you another difference between “suffer” and “suffer from.” When you simply say “suffer,” you’re implying that the pain or hardship is intense and high , almost tragic , like what happens in a famine or a war. When you say “suffer from,” you might be implying intense pain or hardship, but not necessarily . You can use “suffer from” with things that are not as intense.

It’s June, springtime in the Northern Hemisphere, flowers are blooming . That’s great news for a lot of us. But some people suffer from seasonal allergies . They experience congestion , sneezing , itchy eyes . These are seasonal allergies. Many people suffer from seasonal allergies.

This is a great example of some kind of pain, some kind of distress, caused by a specific condition—allergies. But this isn’t true suffering. It’s no fun having seasonal allergies. But it’s not like living in a war.

But this is a case where you can use “suffer from” plus the condition. There’s pain, there’s hardship, even if it doesn’t rise to the level of general suffering .

“Suffer from” is often used with medical conditions. She suffers from anxiety . He suffers from diabetes . It’s not used with an injury . “He suffers from a broken leg “—no. Only use this with a condition. He suffers from chronic back pain , yes, you can say that.

You can also use it with non-medical conditions. This is much less common, but I’ll give you a few examples. Mexico is suffering from a drought now. Here in the city, aquifers and water levels are very low. Avocados are a big crop in Mexico, but avocado trees need a lot of water. Avocado farmers are suffering from this drought, too, with lower yields .

The opposite is true in parts of Brazil. The far south of Brazil is suffering from extreme flooding . This is pain, this is hardship, that comes from a specific thing: extreme flooding. Whole neighborhoods are flooded; people are being rescued on boats; towns may need to be relocated to higher ground .

A family or a business can suffer from financial hardship . A business can suffer from a season of low sales . A family can suffer from financial hardship after a large medical expense or a job loss.

See you next time!

This is a tricky one. Sometimes things in English are not as easy as we would like them to be. I tried my best to show you the difference between “suffer” and “suffer from.” But now it’s your turn to actually use it, to think of examples from your own life and experiences.

So on the transcript page, find the tab called “Your turn ” and write your own sentence. I’ll then read it and give you some feedback. This is great because I can never predict how you will use “suffer from” until I read your examples.

And you might not know (not for sure) if you’re using it right. So if you write your examples on the website, then I’ll give you the feedback you need. Make all your mistakes with us—and then you’ll crush it in the real world. That’s what I say.

That’s all at PlainEnglish.com/683. Find the expression transcript page. And then click on the tab called “Your Turn.”

That’s all for us on this Thursday. We’ll be back next week with a new topic. See you then!