Sympathy and Empathy
Sympathy and Empathy
Writers
often confuse sympathy and empathy. These two words have similar meanings
but they are not the same.
Sympathy
sympathy
means to have compassion or feel sorry about someone else’s sorrow or
misfortune.
For
example
- You have
my utmost sympathy. you trained really hard for the race.
- I
would like to extend my sympathy to your sister. I am sorry to hear of the
death of her dog.
👉 The corresponding verb is sympathize.
E.g.;
He will sympathize with you as he knows how hard you worked.
👉 sympathy is not always about feelings of pity and
sorrow. It can also mean to understand or agree with. It carries a connotation
of full support.
E.g.;
It is hard not to have sympathy with their claims.
Empathy
Empathy
is a term we use for the ability to understand other people's feelings as
if we were having them ourselves. For example; You have empathy for a poor
person if you are or were poor.
- She felt
empathy for the grieving widow because she had lost her own husband the year
before.
👉Empathy can also mean providing our own feeling to a work
of art or another object. We often have a sense
of empathy with works of art. If we see gestures in a portrait, we
actually almost simulate those gestures in our mind.
👉The corresponding verb is to empathize.
1. I can empathize with
you. I have been there.
2. She will empathize
with you. She had been in the same neighbourhood for 10 years.
How
to remember the difference between Sympathy and Empathy?
The
difference between the meanings of the words sympathy and empathy is much more
emotional than grammatical.
- If the
subject identifies with and shares the pain of the object, “empathy” is
the correct word to use.
- If the
subject is aware of the object’s suffering but feels no direct connection
other than sorrow for the object, “sympathy” is the right word to use.
Exercise
Choose
the correct option and rewrite these sentences.
1)
Sympathy/Empathy poured in from all
over the country for the rape victim.
Sympathy poured in from all over the country
for the rape victim.
2)
Having also faced serious financial
troubles, Ramesh had sympathy/empathy for Dinesh over his money woes.
Having also faced serious financial troubles,
Ramesh had empathy for Dinesh over his money woes.
3)
My class sent a sweet letter of
sympathy/empathy to the student whose father passed away.
My class sent a sweet letter of sympathy to
the student whose father passed away.
4)
After watching the news, they
expressed sympathy/empathy for the victims of the earthquake.
After watching the news, they expressed
sympathy for the victims of the earthquake.
5)
The murderer didn’t have any sympathy/empathy
for his victims or their families.
The murderer didn’t have any empathy for his
victims or their families.
6)
They gave me genuine sympathy/empathy
and concrete help.
They gave me genuine sympathy and concrete
help.
7)
Everyone in the staff signed a
sympathy/empathy card when her husband died and sent it to her home to let her
know we cared.
Everyone in the staff signed a sympathy card when
her husband died and sent it to her home to let her know we cared.
8)
As he watched the hurricane footage
from his warm, dry apartment, he felt sympathy/empathy for those losing their
homes.
As he watched the hurricane footage from his
warm, dry apartment, he felt sympathy for those losing their homes.
9)
Try to get him to talk by showing
sympathy/empathy.
Try to get him to talk by showing sympathy.
10)
She knew that he had lost his father
when he was very young, just like she had, and felt a deep sympathy/empathy for
him.
She
knew that he had lost his father when he was very young, just like she had, and
felt a deep empathy for him.
11)
He has sympathy/empathy for those
struggling with alcohol addiction as he is a recovering addict.
He
has empathy for those struggling with alcohol addiction as he is a recovering
addict.
12)
Since I became a mother, I have
developed a great deal of sympathy/empathy for mothers who do not have personal
space.
Since I became a mother, I have developed
a great deal of empathy for mothers who do not have personal space.
13)
We have sympathy/empathy for the
people who lost their houses in Kerala floods.
We
have sympathy for the people who lost their houses in Kerala floods.
14)
We expressed our sympathy/empathy for
her loss.
We
expressed our sympathy for her loss.
15)
Having just lost her mother to cancer,
Maya felt great sympathy/empathy for Sarita during her chemotherapy.
Having
just lost her mother to cancer, Maya felt great empathy for Sarita during her
chemotherapy.
16)
He has the right mix of toughness and
sympathy to help those labourers.
He
has the right mix of toughness and sympathy to help those labourers.
17)
People all over the nation have
sympathy/empathy for those who lost their houses in fire during Delhi
riots.
People
all over the nation have sympathy for those who lost their houses in fire
during Delhi riots.
18)
Please extend my sympathy/empathy to
your mother.
Please
extend my sympathy to your mother.
19)
I feel sympathy/empathy for the
children suffering from hunger in Somalia.
I feel sympathy for the children suffering
from hunger in Somalia.
20)
He loves the children from orphanage
has certain sympathy/empathy with them as he lost his parents at an early age.
He loves the
children from orphanage has certain empathy with them as he lost his parents at
an early age.
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