suffered from

Meanings

1. 1phrasefixed phrase

   was ill with a particular disease or health condition, especially over time.

   Grammar: Takes from + the illness: She suffered from migraines. The simple present is suffers from.

   Patterns

   • suffer from a disease/condition
   • suffer from something for years

   He suffered from asthma as a child but grew out of it.

   My grandmother suffered from arthritis for many years.

   Many people in the region suffered from malaria that summer.

2. 2phrasefixed phrase

   was badly affected by a problem such as poverty, hunger, or poor housing.

   Grammar: The subject can be a person or a place: The area suffered from high unemployment.

   Patterns

   • suffer from a problem
   • suffer from lack of something

   The school suffered from a lack of funding for years.

   Rural areas suffered from poor transport links.

   The project suffered from delays and bad planning.

Common combinations

suffer from a disease

Thousands of people suffer from this disease every year.

suffer from depression

She suffered from depression after losing her job.

suffer from a lack of something

The team suffered from a lack of experience.

suffer from the effects of something

The coast still suffers from the effects of the oil spill.

Synonyms and how they differ

have

Have is neutral and does not suggest ongoing pain: She has asthma. Suffer from suggests the condition causes difficulty.

be afflicted by

This is literary and stronger, often used for serious or widespread illness.

be plagued by

This suggests a problem that keeps returning and is hard to stop.

Word family

suffer verb

to experience pain, illness, or something unpleasant.

suffering noun

physical or mental pain.

sufferer noun

a person who suffers from an illness or condition.

Commonly confused: suffered from or suffer?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “suffered from”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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