Learn Portuguese (Portugal): O isolamento do paciente aumenta o sofrimento dele. - The patient's isolation increases his suffering.

The suffix -mento is added to verbs to create nouns that describe an action or its result. It works just like '-ment' in English. For example, the verb isolar (to isolate) becomes isolamento, and sofrer (to suffer) becomes sofrimento. Nouns ending in -mento are almost always masculine, which is why they both use the masculine article o.

Is the word paciente also formed using a common suffix?

Yes, the ending -ente (and its cousin -ante) is a suffix used to describe a person or thing performing an action or exhibiting a state, similar to '-ent' or '-ant' in English. You can see this useful pattern in other words like estudante (student, from estudar) and ouvinte (listener, from ouvir).

Why does the sentence use dele instead of seu for 'his'?

Because the possessive word seu can mean 'his', 'hers', or 'yours' in Portuguese, it often causes confusion. To be perfectly clear that they mean 'his', native speakers frequently use dele (a contraction of de plus ele, literally 'of him') and place it right after the noun.

Why do we say do paciente instead of just ?