Expressing Sadness and Pain

Expressing Sadness and Pain

Objectives

Responding to meaning in formal and sustained transactional (to get things done) and intrapersonal (socializing) conversations using oral texts accurately and fluently in daily life context involving: stating position, expressing sadness and pain.

Lesson

Expressing Sadnes and Pain

There are times when we feel sad about things in our life. Sadness is the feeling of being unhappy. It is a normal feeling, because everyone feels sad sometimes. You may feel sad for many reasons. It happens when you lose something important, or when you haven’t achieved your goals. Being ignored, rejected, or disappointed, can also make you feel sad.

Being sad can be painful. If you cannot handle it well, your feeling will get even worse. When you are sad, you can help yourself by telling your problems to others. You can tell it to your family, friends, or teachers. Expressing sadness can heal you feelings and relieve your burdens.

Before we learn about how to express sadness in English, please read the following conversation.

Gian: Hi, friend. How are you doing?
Juna : Well, not good.
Gian: What’s the matter?
Juna : I failed on math exam. I have studied hard I don’t know why I failed. I am so sad.
Gian: I feel you. Maybe you have to relax for a while. Don’t stress yourself out.
Juna : Yes, It will be nice. Thanks for your suggestion.
Gian: Don’t mention it. That’s what friends are for.

To express your sadness, you can use these phrases:

I can’t believe what’s going on.
I am very sad about…
I am so sad.
It makes me so sad.
I can’t hold my tears on it.
I just don’t know what to do.
How sorrowful it is.
Please leave me alone.
I’m feeling blue.

Sadness can also be caused by pain or physical suffering. When you get hurt or feel pain on your body, you may express by saying.

(Ouch!) That hurts!
It’s really painful.
I feel sick.
It really hurts me
The pain hurts me really bad.
It’s killing me!

How to Respond to Sadness and Pain

Objectives

Learning Objective: In this lesson, you will learn about how to respond to sadness and pain.

Lesson

Don't worry, everything is going to be alright.
                                                         (Bob Marley)

Responding to sadness

When you see people around you look so sad, what will you do? When you see your friends crying, will you ask them why or just ignore them?

Sadness is unpleasant or unhappy feeling about something bad that happens in our life. We have good and bad things in our life. When good things happened, we feel happy; so it is normal to feel sad, when bad things happened to us. When we are sad, we want people to care about us. It is why we need to give our attention to anyone who looks sad around us.

When people telling you about their sadness, you can respond in many ways such as giving a hug, cheering them up, asking them to go out or watch, or something else. However, not all people will tell you the reason why they look so sad.

When you see your friends or relatives look so sad, you can show your care by using these phrases:
Are you alright?
What happened?
What’s going on?
What can I do to help?
Would you like to talk about it?
Is there anything I can do for you?

If they are trying to tell you their problem, you may also use the following short phrases to show that you are listening to them:

Oh no!
Oh dear.
What a pity!
Oh, poor you.
I'm sorry to hear that.
That's horrible.
That's too bad.

To show your care, you can motivate and encourage. You can also relieve their burden by showing sympathy, letting them know that you feel what they feel. There are many expressions that is meant to relieve someone’s burden.

Cheer up!
Lighten up!
Take it easy.
It’ll get better soon.
Don’t worry, you’ll be alright.
I can't believe that.
I know how you feel.
I'm sorry to hear that.
I’m really sad to know it.

Example:

Kristoff: Hey Anna, are you alright? Why are you crying?
Anna: It’s nothing.
Kristoff: Really? You can always tell me your problems. You know that.
Anna: It’s about my sister, Elsa. She was angry with me, and she left me alone.
Kristoff: Oh, that’s too bad.
Anna: I’m so sad. She is my only family that I have.
Kristoff: Take it easy, Anna. It will get better soon. You will meet your sister again.
Anna: Thank you, Kristoff.

Responding to pain

Pain is a condition of physical suffering caused by diseases or injury. When something or someone hurts you, you may feel so sad or upset. How do you feel if this condition happens to your friends, relatives or others? Will you feel the same? Actually, it is not about we feel the same or not.

When you care of people around you, you may respond to the pain by using these phrases:

It must be really painful.
That’s really bad.
That’s terrible.
Oh, poor you.
It sounds painful.

To show your care about someone’s pain, you can offer suggestion or help by using these expressions

You should see a doctor.
You need a treatment
Take a medicine.
Take some rest.
Should I take you some medicine?
Should I call the doctor?
What can I do to help?
What’s going on?

Key Points

• In conclusion, responding sadness and pain has different ways.
• Sadness means feeling pain mentally such as unsatisfactory feeling towards something happened in the past, while pain is suffering from physical illness.
• To respond to sadness, you can ask about their problem and cheer them up.
• To respond to pain, you can suggest them to see a doctor or take some medicine when they got injured.