sufrir means: to suffer
Click to see all conjugation charts of sufrir in every tense

In this Spanish conjugation lesson we are going to learn how to inflect the verb sufrir in the Presente tense of the Indicativo mood. It means we will see step by step how to create and translate forms of each grammatical person.

This lesson is specifically about the sufrir verb conjugation. For a general overview of Simple Tenses conjugation have a look at our Simple Tenses Conjugation Chart.

We also have a Video Presentation on how to conjugate verbs in Presente. It’s embedded below, but using the above link you will find additional information on conjugation in this tense as well as explanation of special cases and exceptions.

How to translate Presente to English

Note that the phrases in English provided below next to each conjugation are not direct translations from Spanish to English. They are usually the closest general equivalents. The example differences are:

• In Spanish conjugation, there is the form usted in the third person singular. But this person does not translate to the English third person singular. It translates to the so called formal you and uses the inflected form which is most often represented as he/she/it in English conjugation charts.
• Similar situation happens in the third person plural, where ustedes translates to the English plural formal you but uses the form which corresponds to the they form in English.
• Tenses are used differently in Spanish and English, so the actual translation should always take into account the context and focus on translating the meaning, not just words.
• In both languages each verb may have multiple meanings and not every meaning translates directly to the other language. Here also, the context and focusing on the particular meaning helps to create the most accurate translation.

The Spanish Presente de Indicativo tense translates to one of the following:

• The English Present tense, for instance:
  ellos sufren

  they suffer
• The English Present Progressive (also called Present Continuous) tense, for instance:
  ahora vosotras sufrís

  (feminine, plural) you are suffering now
  
  Notice however, that the Spanish equivalent of the Present Progressive also exists and is in common use – that’s Presente Progresivo (or Presente Continuo).

Note the timeline

The ability to accurately locate the desired position on the timeline is an important skill for proper use of tenses. So note the timeline in our lessons and visualize it while speaking, listening, writing and reading. After a bit practice you will be capable of selecting the right tense to use much easier.

Step by step instructions

Presente belongs to the simple tenses group, which means that all of the conjugated forms are one word long. There are also compound (compuesto) tenses in Spanish language, where each conjugated verb form consists of two words.The verb sufrir has regular conjugation in the Presente tense of the Indicativo mood. It means this verb just follows the basic rules for its conjugation group (-ir) without spelling corrections or exceptions. The basis for this conjugation is the stem of the verb, so we begin by splitting the infinitive into a stem and an ending. It’s easy to do. Simply remove two letters from the end of the infinitive form to get the ending — one of -ar, -er or -ir. What’s left is the stem. So in case of our verb:

• the stem is: sufr-
• and the ending is: -ir

Use the stem sufr- in each person as the basis for conjugations, the common prefix that each of the forms begins with. Next, add to this regular stem the endings specific to each person. See the image on the side showing all the six endings. Notice both the shapes and colors of the letters. They are arranged to help you find patterns and make it easier to remember these endings.Each grammatical person has a specific ending in each of the three conjugation groups -ar, -er, -ir. Add the regular ending -o for the first person singular to create sufro:

• yo sufro – I suffer

Once more add the regular ending -es for the second person singular to create sufres:

• tú sufres – you suffer

Similarly add the regular ending -e for the third person singular to create sufre:

• él sufre – he suffers
• ella sufre – she suffers
• usted sufre – (formal) you suffer

And exactly as previously add the regular ending -imos for the first person plural to create sufrimos:

• nosotros sufrimos – we suffer
• nosotras sufrimos – (feminine) we suffer

And again add the regular ending -ís for the second person plural to create sufrís:

• vosotros sufrís – (plural) you suffer
• vosotras sufrís – (feminine, plural) you suffer

And similarly add the regular ending -en for the third person plural to create sufren:

• ellos sufren – they suffer
• ellas sufren – (feminine) they suffer
• ustedes sufren – (formal, plural) you suffer

Hurray! The conjugation is now done. Put together, the conjugation chart looks like this:

yo	sufro	I suffer
tú	sufres	you suffer
él/ella/usted	sufre	he/she/it suffers
nosotros/nosotras	sufrimos	we suffer
vosotros/vosotras	sufrís	you suffer
ellos/ellas/ustedes	sufren	they suffer

Click to see all conjugation charts of sufrir in every tense
But do not end your session yet – it’s important to repeat and practice the material in order to remember it. Check below for examples and next steps.

Example sentences

Next Steps to Perfection To practice this conjugation and test your skills check this Conjugation Exercise or the Memory Game To see other conjugation lessons for this verb choose another tense: PretéritoImperfectoCondicionalFuturoPretérito Perfecto CompuestoPretérito PluscuamperfectoFuturo PerfectoCondicional PerfectoPretérito Perfecto Compuesto (subjuntivo)Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto A (subjuntivo)Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto B (subjuntivo)Futuro Perfecto (subjuntivo)  For exercises and examples related to sufrir visit our Exercise section To see conjugation charts in all tenses for sufrir visit the Conjugator To explore other learning materials visit the Study section

---