soffre

Soffre is the third-person singular present indicative form of the Italian verb soffrire, meaning to suffer or endure. It corresponds to he suffers or she suffers, and in formal address Lei soffre means you suffer. The term covers physical pain, emotional distress, and broader hardship, and it is common in both everyday speech and literary Italian.

Usage and examples: soffrire takes di to indicate illness or discomfort (soffro di mal di testa; soffre di diabete). It can also express suffering due to a situation or loss (soffre per la perdita). The past participle sofferto forms compound tenses with avere, as in ho sofferto, hai sofferto, ha sofferto.

Conjugation snapshot: present: io soffro, tu soffri, lui/lei soffre, noi soffriamo, voi soffrite, loro soffrono. Present subjunctive: che io soffra, che tu soffra, che lui/lei soffra, che noi soffriamo, che voi soffriate, che loro soffrano. Imperfect: soffrivo, soffrivi, soffriva, soffrivamo, soffrivate, soffrivano.

Etymology: soffrire derives from Latin suffrīre (to bear, endure), passing into Italian as soffrire. The sense of enduring hardship has remained central in modern Italian usage.