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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