Expressions of Sympathy

Expressions of Sympathy

Objectives

Through this section, you will learn:
• How to express sympathy

Learn about it!

Bad things could happen to our life suddenly without warning in advance. It just happens and takes away the happiness. However, it is life, isn’t it?

Life is full of surprise. When bad things come into your life, what do you want to hear from others? Expressions of congratulation? Jokes? Or sympathy? Well, sympathy is what we need the most during tough times. That’s also what other people need to hear from us in their bad time. So, how to express sympathy? Let’s learn through this section!

Look at the picture. They are Dika and Rani. Does Dika look okay for you?

Look at his face. No, he is not okay. Let’s find out what happened to him from his conversation with Rani.
    Rani: Dika, are you sick or something?
    Dika: No, I’m not. Why did you ask?
    Rani: You look terrible, really terrible.
   &nbspDika: Well, I’m not okay anyway. Last night, bad thing happened.
    Rani: What is it?
    Dika: Raya sent a message to me. She wanted to break up with me.
    Rani: What! Oh, that’s awful! How come?
    Dika: She told me that she wanted to focus on learning.
    Rani: It’s reasonable. But, really, I’m sorry to hear that.
    Dika: Thanks.
    Rani: Anytime. Now, let’s grab some chocolates to cheer you up.
From the conversation, we know that Dika is not okay that day. He broke up with Raya, his girlfriend, the night before. We can see it from this utterance, “Raya sent a message to me. She wanted to break up with me.”
Rani knows that ‘broke up’ is a bad thing. It could make anyone sad. So, she shows her sympathy to Dika. From the conversation, she gives the sympathy twice. The sympathies are “Oh, that’s awful!” and “I’m sorry to hear that.”
Rani’s sympathy may not sweep away Dika’s sadness. But sympathy could make Dika knows that Rani does not ignore what happened to him. It shows that she cares. In case you need to express sympathy to your friend, the following expressions can be useful.
Formal

• What a terrible situation for you!
• You have my deepest sympathy.
• I do express my sympathies.

Less Formal

• I’m so sorry to hear that.
• I know how it feels.
• Oh, that’s awful/terrible.

Now study the following dialogue.
    Dika: Rani, I got two free tickets to the workshop. I’ll give one ticket for you.
    Rani: That’s very kind of you.
    Dika: Rani, did I say something wrong? You look unhappy.
    Rani: No, you didn’t. It is just something bad happened this morning.
    Dika: What is it?
    Rani: Well, I fell of the stairs. I hurt my ankle.
    Dika: Ow, that’s awful! Let’s go to the doctor.
    Rani: I have seen the doctor anyway. He said that it would take a week to heal.
    Dika: I’m so sorry to hear that. But don’t worry. The workshop will be held next week. You can still attend the workshop and have fun.
    Rani: Yes, sure I will.
From the conversation, we know that Rani fell of the stairs and hurt her ankle. Dika shows his sympathy by saying “Ow, that’s awful!” and “I’m so sorry to hear that.”

Do you understand?

Well, how is everything going? Have you understood the ways to express sympathy? It’s quite easy, right? Now, let’s try to challenge your understanding.
See the conversation below. The conversation is not completed yet. Fill the blanks with the provided utterances.
Minka: Marsha, there’s something different with you today.
Marsha: It must be the glasses.
Minka: Yes, it is. ....1. Why?
Marsha: Well, ....2. Yeah, you could guess what happened next.
Minka: You broke the glasses. ....3.
Marsha: Sure, ....4.
a. It’s terrible.
b. You wear your old glasses.
c. Oh, I know how it feels.
d. Last night I fell asleep with my glasses on.

Keypoints

From this lesson, you know that when someone experiences bad things, we need to express our sympathy. There are many expressions to show sympathy. However, you can simply say "I'm sorry to hear that" to express your sympathy.