“I have empathy for the victims of the flood.”
Confusables Entry 159 / 1011 60-second read
Empathy vs. Sympathy
Feeling 'with' someone versus feeling 'for' someone.
The comparisoni
“I have sympathy for the victims of the flood.”
More examplesii
01
We need to show sympathy for our users.
We need to show empathy for our users.
02
I don't need your empathy; I need a solution.
I don't need your sympathy; I need a solution.
The ruleiii
¶
EMPATHY = the ability to understand and share the feelings of another (walking in their shoes).
They both relate to compassion, but 'empathy' is more about shared experience or understanding, while 'sympathy' is about care from a distance.
Memory aidiv
Remember it like this
Empathy = Experience (you feel it too). Sympathy = Sorry (you feel bad for them).