<p>From <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=29&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiMqILw-9_jAhVsT98KHW1GCy4QmhMwHHoECA0QAg&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSympathy&amp;usg=AOvVaw3NSG8Ot2F_7pEuY8AWxe8R" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wiki</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, that is, the <strong>capacity to place oneself in another's position</strong>. </p>
</blockquote>

<p>~</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Sympathy is the <strong>perception, understanding, and reaction to the distress or need of another life form</strong>. This empathic concern is driven by a switch in viewpoint, from a personal perspective to the perspective of another group or individual who is in need</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Base on the definitions, translate 'sympathy' to 同情 is correct, but the meaning of 'empathy' should be <strong>體諒</strong></p>

<p>"同情" means "pity" or "sympathy"</p>

<p>"體諒" means "considerate/ understanding" , notice the components of "體諒" are 體(experience) + 諒(understand)-- To 體諒 means "you put yourself in another's position and understand how the other feels"</p>

<p>"體諒" is not the same as "同情" </p>

<ul>
<li><p>"同情" someone, means you are pitying, feeling sorry for that someone</p></li>
<li><p>When you say you have empathy (體諒) for someone, it doesn't necessary mean you feel sorry for that someone. </p></li>
</ul>

<p>For example:</p>

<p>我能[<strong>體諒</strong>]美國一部分白人要保自己的特權階級地位而投川普的票，但我並[<strong>不同情</strong>]他們</p>

<p>I can [<strong>have empathy</strong>] for those white Americans who wanted to protect their privileged class status and voted for Trump, but I [<strong>have no sympathy</strong>] for them.</p>

<p><em>Of course if you have empathy for someone, you are much more likely to have sympathy toward that someone as well</em></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-31T21:07:15.507Z
2019-07-31T21:23:06.903Z
2019-07-31T21:23:06.903Z
Tang Ho
<p>To me, 'empathy' is the <strong>ability</strong> to understand others' feelings and problems. So, the correct Chinese is 同感力 and I also see some translate it as 同理心, 共情 and etc. </p>

<p>'Sympathy' is the <strong><em>feeling of being sorry</em></strong> for someone who is in a bad situation. So, 同情 or 同情心 can fit for this sense. </p>

<p>I think 'empathy' and 'sympathy' have some overlap in meaning because if you have great empathy with people, it also suggests that it's easy for you to feel sympathy for them.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-09-06T08:26:55.533Z
+1 here. 共情 is the proper word for *empathy*.
Mou某
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-03T00:39:51.143Z
2019-08-03T00:39:51.143Z
dan
<p>sympathy translates as "together feeling", so 同情， 同情心 are good. sympathy has an antonym: 冷淡, but empathy does not. Empathy is an ability.</p>

<p>empathy is a relatively new word, the English version of German '(sich) einfühlen.' = 'in feel, feel your way in'</p>

<p>Originally in relation to art, empathy is: "A term from a theory of art appreciation that maintains appreciation depends on the viewer's ability to project his personality into the viewed object." </p>

<p>empathy: emotional transfer 感情移入</p>

<p>In modern parlance, empathy and sympathy are confused. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-01T03:17:05.940Z
冷淡((indifferent) is the antonym of 熱情(passionate), not 同情. The antonym of 同情(sympathetic) is 不同情 (unsympathetic)
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-01T03:23:06.377Z
感情移入 sounds like "感情代入"( emotional substitution)
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-31T23:38:34.573Z
2019-07-31T23:38:34.573Z
Pedroski
<p>Any alternative characters to clarify the difference, as the English words and their Greek roots have different meaning. Thanks!</p>

<mandarin><simplified-characters>
Empathy and Sympathy use same characters in Chinese 同情?
# Empathy and Sympathy use same characters in Chinese 同情?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-07-31)

Any alternative characters to clarify the difference, as the English words and their Greek roots have different meaning. Thanks!

**Tags:** mandarin, simplified-characters


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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-07-31. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

From [Wiki](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=29&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiMqILw-9_jAhVsT98KHW1GCy4QmhMwHHoECA0QAg&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSympathy&usg=AOvVaw3NSG8Ot2F_7pEuY8AWxe8R)

> Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, that is, the **capacity to place oneself in another's position**.

~

> Sympathy is the **perception, understanding, and reaction to the distress or need of another life form**. This empathic concern is driven by a switch in viewpoint, from a personal perspective to the perspective of another group or individual who is in need

Base on the definitions, translate 'sympathy' to 同情 is correct, but the meaning of 'empathy' should be **體諒**

"同情" means "pity" or "sympathy"

"體諒" means "considerate/ understanding" , notice the components of "體諒" are 體(experience) + 諒(understand)-- To 體諒 means "you put yourself in another's position and understand how the other feels"

"體諒" is not the same as "同情"

* "同情" someone, means you are pitying, feeling sorry for that someone
* When you say you have empathy (體諒) for someone, it doesn't necessary mean you feel sorry for that someone.

For example:

我能[**體諒**]美國一部分白人要保自己的特權階級地位而投川普的票，但我並[**不同情**]他們

I can [**have empathy**] for those white Americans who wanted to protect their privileged class status and voted for Trump, but I [**have no sympathy**] for them.

*Of course if you have empathy for someone, you are much more likely to have sympathy toward that someone as well*


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### Answer by username_2 on 2019-08-03. Score: 1

To me, 'empathy' is the **ability** to understand others' feelings and problems. So, the correct Chinese is 同感力 and I also see some translate it as 同理心, 共情 and etc.

'Sympathy' is the ***feeling of being sorry*** for someone who is in a bad situation. So, 同情 or 同情心 can fit for this sense.

I think 'empathy' and 'sympathy' have some overlap in meaning because if you have great empathy with people, it also suggests that it's easy for you to feel sympathy for them.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: +1 here. 共情 is the proper word for *empathy*.  

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### Answer by username_4 on 2019-07-31. Score: 1

sympathy translates as "together feeling", so 同情， 同情心 are good. sympathy has an antonym: 冷淡, but empathy does not. Empathy is an ability.

empathy is a relatively new word, the English version of German '(sich) einfühlen.' = 'in feel, feel your way in'

Originally in relation to art, empathy is: "A term from a theory of art appreciation that maintains appreciation depends on the viewer's ability to project his personality into the viewed object."

empathy: emotional transfer 感情移入

In modern parlance, empathy and sympathy are confused.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 冷淡((indifferent) is the antonym of 熱情(passionate), not 同情. The antonym of 同情(sympathetic) is 不同情 (unsympathetic)  
> **username_1**: 感情移入 sounds like "感情代入"( emotional substitution)  

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