Question 1

What is the difference between Empathy and Sympathy?

Accepted Answer

Sympathy is feeling sorry for someone and caring about their trouble, from where you stand. Empathy is understanding what they feel, from where they stand. Sympathy says 'I'm sorry this happened to you'; empathy says 'I can see how this feels'. Sympathy is the far older word in English (1500s); empathy only arrived in the early 1900s, as a rendering of the German Einfühlung.

Question 2

How do I know if I mean Empathy rather than Sympathy?

Accepted Answer

Readers who land here meaning Empathy rather than Sympathy are usually searching for phrases like “what is empathy”, “empathy vs sympathy”, “can you have too much empathy”.

Aspect	Empathy	Sympathy
Core	Understanding another person's feelings	Feeling sorry for another person's trouble
Standpoint	Theirs: you take their perspective	Yours: you care from outside
Typical words	'That sounds exhausting. I get it.'	'I'm so sorry for your loss.'
In English since	Early 1900s, from German Einfühlung	1500s, from Greek sympatheia, 'fellow feeling'

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