Empathy vs. Sympathy vs. Apathy (Grammar Rules)
Learn when you’re using empathy vs. sympathy vs. apathy with Grammar Rules from the Writer’s Digest editors, including their differences and when they might overlap.
If you have trouble with understanding the difference between empathy, sympathy, and apathy, don't worry: It's not uncommon. They're all types of feelings, but they are decidedly different.
Let's look at what each means and parse out how they differ.
Empathy vs. Sympathy vs. Apathy
Empathy is having the ability to understand what another person experiences from their point of view. There are actually three types of empathy (click here to learn more). In some cases, people experiencing empathy actually go beyond understanding another's experience and can actually feel it.
Sympathy is when someone shares feelings of sadness for another person's misfortune. While someone with empathy may feel sympathy for a friend, it's not necessary for these feelings to overlap. For instance, a person can have sympathy for a friend who lost a loved one but have no idea what that experience is like, but they do know their friend is sad. Conversely, a person could be super empathetic and not feel sympathy for someone is experiencing a hard time.
Apathy is a complete lack of feeling or concern for something or someone. It's not malicious or angry; rather, it's complete indifference. Perhaps, a numbness to a situation. As such, apathy and sympathy cannot co-exist. However, empathy and apathy could, because a person could understand another person's experiences and not care.
Here are a couple examples:
Person A: She hears about a friend who recently broke up with a spouse and feels upset for her friend and understands from her own experiences how her friend must feel (and may even feel heartbroken herself). (Empathetic sympathy)
Person B: He knows and understands why his friends are upset about his behavior of constantly using them for transportation without chipping in gas money, but he doesn't care or feel guilt over his behavior. (Empathetic apathy)
Often, people mistakenly believe that empathy equates with compassion. While empathy often can lead to compassion, some people can use empathy to understand another person but don't feel for them. In fact, sociopaths can employ empathy to exploit others.
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No matter what type of writing you do, mastering the fundamentals of grammar and mechanics is an important first step to having a successful writing career.
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
