i received a PM regarding this topic.
i don't think "suffer with" is ever idiomatically ok, unless the "with" is part of a different, unrelated construction (e.g., if the sentence describes a case in which two or more people are suffering together, and the "with" is used to connect the people).
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there is a difference between "suffer" and "suffer from"
contra what was written by the poster above, the "from" is not superfluous at all.
"PERSON suffers X" is, basically, a simple statement of fact -- just stating that PERSON actually has/experiences/is afflicted by condition X.
for instance, i suffered several injuries in last week's accident is nothing more than an objective statement about what happened in the accident: i.e., it's a fact that i was injured in several locations.
importantly, this construction does not indicate that PERSON is emotionally affected (or, indeed, affected in any other significant way) by "X". in the sentence above, there is no implication as to whether i was upset/traumatized, or whether my life was affected negatively in any way, by the injuries; that sentence implies nothing other than that the injuries happened. (in fact, "PERSON suffered X" is so devoid of emotional connotations that it often appears in police officers' and doctors' reports, which are notorious for their complete lack of emotional content.)
by contrast, "PERSON suffers from X" means that "X", whatever it is, actually causes some measure of physical or emotional distress to PERSON.
for instance, if i say that i am suffering from the injuries that i sustained in the accident, then i am actually implying that the injuries are stressful/are traumatic/are hurtful/cause emotional pain/are inconvenient to me in some way.
as a result, this construction can even apply to "X"s that are generally considered good things, provided that PERSON is somehow negatively affected by those things. for instance, James suffers from his newfound fame and wealth could make sense if, e.g., james is a solitary, reclusive person who hates attention and would thus prefer not to be famous.
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in any case, the probability that this difference will actually be tested on the gmat is basically 0, but this thread was an enjoyable digression from the usual business of the forum.
Ron has been teaching various standardized tests for 20 years.
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Pueden hacerle preguntas a Ron en castellano
Potete chiedere domande a Ron in italiano
On peut poser des questions à Ron en français
Voit esittää kysymyksiä Ron:lle myös suomeksi
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Quand on se sent bien dans un vêtement, tout peut arriver. Un bon vêtement, c'est un passeport pour le bonheur.
Yves Saint-Laurent
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