Words of sympathy

—   Hello, guys! My name is James Wilson.

—   And my name is Martin Green. Welcome to our lesson!

—   Martin, do you know where Nathaniel is? He supposed to be with us today.

—   Oh, James. His cat is very sick. It needs an operation on its stomach. This is a very serious case.

—   Oh my God, Martin. We need to talk to him and cheer him up, but I don’t know what to say in such situations.

—   Neither do I. That’s why I found a forum yesterday. It’s for the people in situations like this. Let’s read other people’s stories and see how the people from the forum support the people who are in trouble.

Ricardo from Spain.

My parents have been feeling unwell. I think this is all because of the tainted Greek salad, which they bought in the shop yesterday.

Look at the comments.

—   Oh, that’s so bad. Anything serious?

—   Oh, we’re sorry to hear that. We hope it’s not anything serious.

Pierre from France.

My dog died 2 weeks ago. I miss my little boy so much!

The comments are:

—   I’m so sorry to hear that. I’m sure that your dog was such a wonderful pet. It will be missed.

—   I do sympathize!

Oliver from Canada.

My mom caught a cold. She works with the little kids in the kindergarten.

The comment is:

—   I’m sorry. Remember you need to be there for your mom if she needs anything.

Victor from Belarus.

I miss my sister so much. She moved to Russia two years ago.

And the comment is:

—   Yes, you must, but you can visit her sometimes.

Chung from North Korea.

I was shocked to hear the news about a plane crash. I was supposed to be on that flight.

We have two comments here.

—   We can imagine that!

—   How terrible! Did anyone survive?

Harry from the UK.

Emily is my dance partner. She broke her arm yesterday. Now we can’t go to the final competition and win the prize.

The comment is:

—   Oh, no! How awful!

Now let’s look through the stories once again. Pay attention to the phrases in red colour. We can use them when we want to support somebody in difficult situation.

Today in the lesson we will:

·        Talk about the words of sympathy;

And

·        Practise to use these words in the necessary situations.

—   People’s life is full of problems, unpleasant situations and disappointment.

—   Some of our relatives, friends or just acquaintances have ever faced with the following situations. Look at the pictures.

They have ever been robbed.

They have ever fallen in a puddle in a rainy weather.

They have ever fallen ill.

They have ever slipped on a banana peel.

They have ever missed the bus.

They have ever been attacked by the angry dog.

They have ever been in the building during the fire.

or

They have ever lost something.

—   In these moments they need your support and sympathy. And it’s not always easy to find the right words for the concrete situation.

—   That’s why we’re talking about the words of sympathy today. We’ve read some information about them on the Internet and now we’ll tell you everything we know. Let’s look closely at the words of sympathy.

If someone is ill or feeling unwell, we can use the phrases:

·        I’m sorry to hear that! I hope it’s not anything serious.

·        Oh, that’s too bad. Anything serious?

·        I’m sorry. Remember I’m here for you if you need anything.

If someone misses his or her friend, relative, dog and so on, we can say:

·        Yes, you must!

If someone’s relative or friend died, we can say:

·        I’m sorry. He or she was a wonderful person.

·        He or she will be missed. Or (We’ll miss him or her).

If someone is in shock after some news, we can use the phrase:

·        I can imagine that!

If someone is in hospital, we can say:

·        Oh, no. How awful!

If someone broke an arm, a leg or something else, we can tell this person:

·        How terrible!

If someone is in trouble, we can use the phrase:

·        I do sympathize!

Now let’s practise to use these words in different situations.

Match the pictures with the phrases from the box.

The phrases are:

I’m sorry to hear that! I hope it’s not anything serious.

Yes, you must!

I can imagine that!

How terrible!

Check yourselves.

One. How terrible!

Two. Yes, you must!

Three. I can imagine that!

Four. I’m sorry to hear that! I hope it’s not anything serious.

The following pictures.

And the phrases are:

I’m sorry. She was a wonderful person. We’ll miss her.

Oh, no. How awful!

I’m sorry. Remember I’m here for you if you need anything.

I do sympathize!

Check yourselves.

Five. I do sympathize!

Six. I’m sorry. She was a wonderful person. We’ll miss her.

Seven. Oh, no. How awful!

Eight. I’m sorry. Remember I’m here for you if you need anything.

Listen to the dialogues and fill in the gaps with the words of sympathy from the box.

Dialogue 1.

—   Hello, Frank. How are you?

—   Hello, Tom. I don’t know what to say. My girlfriend is going away for two months. I miss her already.

—   Yes, you must! But you need to pull yourself together. She will be back soon. Why is she going away?

—   Amy has serious health problems. She needs a very good treatment, but we don’t have experienced specialists. That’s why she needs to go.

—   How terrible! I hope everything will be fine with her.

—   Me too. I need to go and help her to pack the things. See you later.

—   Okay. See you.

Check yourselves.

Dialogue 2.

—   Hi, Max. What happened with your wife’s mom?

—   Hi, Alex. Oh, it’s so awful! She died yesterday.

—   Oh, Max, tell your wife that I’m sorry to hear about her mom! She was a wonderful woman. We’ll miss her. How did this happen? She was so young!

—   Yes, I know. She was only forty. She slipped on the ice, fell over and hit her head. 

—   Oh, no. How awful!

—   My wife and I were shocked to hear such awful news.

—   I can imagine that!

—   I’m sorry, but I have to go now. My wife needs me. Bye, Alex.

—   Sure. Bye, Max.

Check yourselves.

Dialogue 3.

—   Hi, Bobby. You look so tired! What happened?

—   Hi, Ryan. I couldn’t sleep last night at all. I had a terrible stomachache.

—   Oh, that’s too bad. Anything serious?

—   I don’t know. I’ll go to the doctor at 4 p.m. and find out. The pain is so strong.

—   I’m sorry to hear that! I hope it’s not anything serious. You know I think you should tell our boss about this and go to the doctor right now.

—   Yeah, I guess you’re right! I’ll go and tell him.

—   Of course, you need to see the doctor as soon as possible.

—   Okay, see you, Ryan.

—   See you.

Check yourselves.

Dialogue 4.

—   Hi, Cody. What’s new?

—   Hi, Felix. Oh, I don't even know where to start. My dad got into serious troubles.

—   I do sympathize! Tell me the details, please!

—   He saw two men the other day. They robbed an old lady and took her money. Then these men found my dad and started to threaten him. They told my dad not to go to the police station, but he didn’t listen to them. Now he is in the hospital. And the police are looking for these men.

—   Oh my God. I’m sorry. Remember I’m here for you if you need anything.

—   I need to see my dad now, so see you later.

—   Okay, see you.

Check yourselves.

—   James, now we know what we can say in difficult life situations.

—   Yes, Martin, you’re right. I think we can visit Nathaniel now.

—   Sure, let’s go!

—   Hello, Nathaniel. We’re sorry to hear about your cat. We hope it’s not anything serious.

—   Remember we’re always here for you if you need anything.

—   Thanks, guys. I took my cat to the vet. They're operating on it tomorrow. I’m so glad you could come. I need to get my mind off things.

—   Of course, James and I couldn’t leave you alone. We can imagine what you feel!

—   Your cat is so wonderful and gentle. We’re sure everything will be fine!

—   Thanks again, guys. You’re the best!

—   That’s all for today.

—   We hope the lesson was useful for you. See you soon!