Confusing English Words – empathy / sympathy

بسیاری از کلمات وجود دارند که معنی یکسانی دارند، اما در واقع تعاریف و کاربردهای مختلفی دارند.
شما می خواهید درست صحبت کنید و از به کار بردن کلمات نادرست خودداری کنید، اما در مورد معنی دقیق و کاربرد هر کلمه کاملا مطمئن نیستید.
بعضی از زبان آموزان حتی به دلیل تردیدهایشان از به کار بردن کلمات خودداری می کنند!
هدف ما در این سری از پست ها روشن کردن رایج ترین کلمات گیج کننده در انگلیسی است.

empathy / sympathy

Empathy refers to the ability to deeply understand and share someone else’s feelings or situation. The verb form is empathize. For example, if you were bullied or made fun of as a child, you have empathy with kids who are currently being bullied. If you started your own company and you know how challenging it is, you can empathize with someone who is doing the same thing

It’s also possible to feel empathy even if you haven’t had direct experience of a situation. A nurse can have deep empathy for her patients, even if she has never been hospitalized herself. But she is familiar with her patients’ situations, sensitive to their feelings, and listens to them express their emotions

:The noun sympathy can mean

You feel sorry because another person is sad, or because something bad happened to that person. When somebody’s relative dies, you express your sympathy for their loss. (Sometimes people express heartfelt sympathy or their deepest sympathy – for emphasis)

If you are in sympathy with someone, it means you agree with them, or your goals are in line with their goals. If you work for an organization that helps poor people, and your friend has a project to provide school supplies to poor children, then his work is in sympathy with yours

:The verb sympathize can be used for feeling bad for someone

We sympathize with the victims’ families. (= we feel sorry because they have lost a loved one)

:It can also be used for agreeing with goals or thoughts

He sympathizes with a radical political party. (= he tends to agree with that party’s philosophies)

To summarize, empathy is when you feel what another person feels (it can be good or bad feelings). Sympathy is when you feel bad for another person’s sadness, or when your thoughts/goals are in line with someone else’s