Empathy and Sympathy Difference, Sentences w/ “Empathy” and “Sympathy”

The Empathy and Sympathy difference and some sample sentences.

EMPATHY AND SYMPATHY DIFFERENCE – Here’s the difference between “Empathy” and “Sympathy” and how they are used in sentences.

What is the difference between empathy and sympathy?

These two are different and their difference is pretty important to know. You may hear and see them appear very similar but each has a very distinct meaning and usage. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, sympathy is defined as “the feeling that you care about and are sorry about someone else’s trouble, grief, misfortune, etc.”

Empathy, on the other hand, is “the feeling that you understand and share another person’s experiences and emotions” or “the ability to share someone else’s feelings”. 

“Empathy drives connection and sympathy drives disconnection,” says social psychologist and bestselling author Brené Brown. Basically speaking, empathy is to experience someone’s feelings while sympathy is understanding someone’s suffering.

Empathizing to someone is feeling what they feel, listening actively to what they say, not judging, awareness of nuances and non-verbal cues, and acknowledging their feelings, thus, the connection is built. Sympathy is having thoughts about what someone feels, giving unasked advice during conversations, only noticing the surface, understanding from your perspective only, and feeling pity, bad, or sorry without understanding how they feel.

Here are some sample sentences:

EMPATHY:

1. He has empathy to children, especially the small ones.
2. After hearing his story, I suddenly felt a great deal of empathy for Neil.
3. Lack of empathy can just create another problem.

SYMPATHY:

1. I want to express my sincerest sympathy to the victims of the typhoon.
2. No one expressed sympathy to me when my mother died, even my best friend.
3. His sympathy and rational thinking to other people makes a great balance.

READ ALSO:

• Especially Versus Specially – Proper uses of “Especially” and “Specially”
• Breath and Breathe Difference – Sample Sentences w/ “Breath” and “Breathe”

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