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Sat 5 Oct, 2013 09:10 pm
- Today I did some training with the rowing team, but it proved to be too much for me and I ended up throwing up.
1. Are there any problems with my sentence above? If it's ungrammatical, please tell me.
2. In daily conversaition, what would Britons/Amercians say in reply to that statement? I know 'Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to...' and 'May we offer our deepest sympathies (on the death of...)', but I think it's too formal or inappropriate. Even if not, I don't know how to modify them to suit the statement above. Could you help me?
Thank you.
@WBYeats,
The sentence is OK. In daily conversation, the Britons and Americans I know would probably say nothing in reply to that statement, or maybe "Don't overdo it next time". An expression of formal sympathy is not required for such a minor mishap.
In general, conversational expressions of sympathy are not required for minor mishaps, except in the case of very small children. If the unfortunate event is intermediate in severity (getting fired from a job, death of a pet, being injured in a accident etc) people would probably say "I was sorry to hear about XXX". For something very severe (death of a relative or loved one) a friend or close colleague might say "I was so sorry to hear about XXX). Those formal (and formulaic) expressions where heartfelt sympathy goes out etc tend to be in written form and by more remote entities such as employers and would probably be regarded as insincere if spoken by a friend. You can even get ready printed "sympathy cards" with such wording. Many people, including me, find these deeply distasteful. Here is a particularly unpleasant example: