Friday, December 30, 2016

EMPATHY VS. SYMPATHY

EMPATHY VS. SYMPATHY

The terms empathy and sympathy are two words that people are often confused with. This may be attributed to the fact that both terms focuses on a person’s relationship with the feelings and experiences of another person. This post will help you distinguish between the two and enable you to properly use them in your writing.

Both empathy and sympathy are rooted from the greek word pathos which means “suffering” or “a quality that evokes pity or sadness.” The prefix em- means “in” or “within” while the prefix sym- means “with.”

As a noun, empathy refers to “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.” It is often used to denote the ability of a person to imagine himself in the situation of another person, including his emotions, ideas, or opinions. For example, if a friend of yours tells you news about a death in her family and it made you feel as if it’s also your loss, then you have empathy.

“A Sad Liberal’s Extremely Short Thanksgiving Plea for Empathy”
Huffington Post

“Why the country is having a big debate about empathy after Donald Trump’s election”
Vox

“Empathy by the Book: How Fiction Affects Behavior”
Wall Street Journal

On the other hand, sympathy as a noun denotes “feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else’s misfortune” or “understanding between people; common feeling.” It does not require you to have the same feelings with the person you symphatize with but it enables you to have compassion for that person and understand his suffering.

“Nicolas Sarkozy: France reaction veers from sympathy to sarcasm”
BBC News

“Refugee survivor has no sympathy for Springvale Commonwealth Bank asylum seeker blast suspect”
Herald Sun

“Clinton Offers Support, Sympathy to Mayors After Iowa Shootings”
Bloomberg

A simple trick to determine which term to use is to assess what kind of emotion you are feeling towards the emotions or experience of another person. If you can only feel pity, sadness, or compassion towards the difficulty of that person, then you have sympathy for him. However, if you can genuinely put yourself in his situation, then you have empathy for him.

Thursday, December 29, 2016

IT’S VS. ITS

While these two words contain only a meager three letters, people often get confused with the use of it’s and its. It is actually commonplace to find this error as it may result from both grammatical and typographical error.

The term it’s is a contraction or an abbreviated form of either “it is” or “it has.” This is the same with the contractions of she is and they have as “she’s” and “they’ve.”

“The Long-Term Jobs Killer Is Not China. It’s Automation.”
New York Times

“No more excuses. It’s time to change abortion laws in NSW and Queensland”
The Guardian

“It’s Time To Give Up On Getting A Mini NES Classic Edition This Christmas”
Forbes

On the other hand, the term its the possessive form of “it”used as an attributive adjective. This form is consistent with other possessive pronouns such as “our” which is the possessive form of “we” and “his” which is the possessive form of “he.” Possessive pronouns no longer require an apostrophe since they already changed in form to denote possession.

“Here’s Why India Might Benefit From Some Protectionism For Its Startups”
Forbes

“EU gives Poland two months to scrap changes to its highest court”
The Guardian

“As Dow climbs to 20,000, its ETF sees big inflows and trading”
MarketWatch

It would be easier to remember which word to use by using this simple tip. When in doubt, try replacing the term with “it is” or “it has” in the sentence. If it sounds right, then go ahead and use it’s. If it doesn’t seem correct, then you should opt for its.

Examples:

I saw her artwork yesterday. ___ fabulous!

✓ I saw her artwork yesterday. It is fabulous!

✓ I saw her artwork yesterday. It’s fabulous!

The team lost ___ star player to a freak injury.

✗ The team lost it is star player to a freak injury.

✓ The team lost its star player to a freak injury.

EMIGRATE VS. IMMIGRATE VS. MIGRATE

EMIGRATE VS. IMMIGRATE VS. MIGRATE

The difference between emigrate and immigrate are subtle but important because using one of these words depends on the sentence’s point of view. This small difference in meaning creates confusion among writers. However, it is important to focus first on the word migrate because it encompasses both emigrate and immigrate.

The term migrate is a verb meaning “to move from one region or habitat to another, especially regularly according to the seasons” in the case of animals, particularly birds and fishes, but in this discussion, we will take in consideration its meaning “to move from one area or country to settle in another, especially in search of work,” which is applicable to people.

“Are you planning to leave, or no longer migrate to, the US?”
The Guardian

“Sex with Neanderthals helped our ancestors live out of Africa”
International Business Times UK

“Japan companies and investors migrate to Vietnam”
VietNamNet Bridge

Meanwhile, the term emigrate is a verb used to mean “to leave one’s own country in order to settle permanently in another.” It has an implication that a person or persons are permanently moving from his former location.

“These are the best countries for Americans to emigrate to as Donald Trump becomes President”
Mirror.co.uk

“Americans google ‘how do I emigrate?’ as searches for ‘end of the world’ rise around the planet”
Telegraph.co.uk

“Celebrities in political campaigns who threaten to emigrate”
BBC News

On the other hand, the term immigrate is a verb meaning “to come to live permanently in a foreign country.” It also implies a permanent movement of a person to another place.

“Melania Trump Will Share Her Experience Immigrating to the US in Campaign Speech”
ABC News

“9 countries to which Americans can easily immigrate”
SFGate

“McCool: Americans are going to find it hard to immigrate to Canada if Trump wins”
Ottawa Citizen

In order to determine which term to use in a sentence, you can keep in mind the following:

· Migrate is a term that covers both emigrate and immigrate since it refers to the movement FROM one place TO another.

· Emigrate is the term used when your point of view is leaving or moving FROM your country or place of origin.

· Immigrate is the term used when your point of view is arriving or moving TO your destination country.

DISINTERESTED VS. UNINTERESTED

DISINTERESTED VS. UNINTERESTED

Traditionally, the words disinterested and uninterested have different meanings. While cautious writers still observe this distinction in formal writing, other people use these two terms in the same manner nowadays. This may be understandable since both prefixes dis- and un- mean “not.”

The term disinterested is an adjective that traditionally means “not influenced by considerations of personal advantage.”

“Mr Walsh is not exactly a disinterested observer.”
The Economist

“Presidents, in recognizing that responsibility accompanies this latitude, have traditionally turned their business and financial interests over to a disinterested third party.”
Bloomberg

“Even if he had a disinterested party manage it, he’d still know what his assets were and he could undertake policies that would make those assets more valuable”
NBC News

The confusion between the two terms may be attributed to disinterested‘s more popular use as an adjective denoting “having or feeling no interest in something.”

“Role of IPU: War industry-boosting nations disinterested in peace: Rabbani”
The Express Tribune

“City disinterested in managing councillor conflict”
The Peterborough Examiner

“Man City pedestrian and disinterested in embarrassing loss to Southampton”
ESPN

This meaning of disinterested is very similar with uninterested, which is an adjective referring to “having or showing no feeling of interest; indifferent” or being “not personally concerned in something.”

“Donald Trump Declares Gay Marriage Debate ‘Settled,’ Uninterested in Overturning Supreme Court Decision”
The Christian Post

“Conor McGregor uninterested in facing undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov”
FanSided

“Biden uninterested in serving in Clinton administration”
Dhaka Tribune

In the traditional context, a disinterested person is someone who is impartial or unbiased in a particular issue or case while an uninterested person is someone who is unconcerned or indifferent about the said issue or case. While many writers still follow the traditional use of disinterested, it is not uncommon to see the word being used in place of uninterested nowadays. To avoid confusion, you may use synonyms of disinterested in its traditional sense, such as unbiased, impartial, and neutral.