ter paciência

You use it just like a regular verb. You can say eu tenho paciência (I have patience). Or you can tell someone tenha paciência (have patience). It is very flexible and works in almost any sentence structure. You can add muita (a lot) to emphasize how much you need. For example, preciso de muita paciência hoje (I need a lot of patience today).

Use it when the bus is twenty minutes late. Use it when your computer decides to update during a meeting. It is perfect for talking about kids or slow service. If you are waiting for a friend who is always late, this is your phrase. It is great for self-reflection or giving gentle advice to others.

Do not use it if you are actually angry and want to shout. It sounds a bit too calm for a real explosion. If someone is being truly rude, ter paciência might sound too passive. Also, do not confuse it with ser paciente. While ser paciente means being a patient person generally, ter paciência is often about a specific moment.

Portuguese speakers often value 'calma' (calmness). Life in Brazil or Portugal can sometimes be unpredictable. Traffic, bureaucracy, and 'island time' require a lot of paciência. There is a famous saying: paciência tem limite (patience has a limit). It suggests that even the kindest person can eventually get fed up. It is a cultural nod to the balance between being chill and being firm.

You will often hear haja paciência! This is an exclamation meaning 'may there be patience!' It is what you say when a situation is totally ridiculous. Another one is perder a paciência (to lose patience). That is what happens when the bus finally breaks down. You might also hear paciência de Jó, referring to the biblical Job. This means you have an incredible, almost superhuman amount of patience.