感同身受

gǎntóngshēnshòu
idiom #17,119

Meanings

  1. 1 to feel as if it had happened to oneself; to empathize deeply
  2. 2 (polite) I take it as a personal favor

Characters

Literally 'feel the same as if received by one's own body' — to deeply empathize.

Examples

Tīngdào tā de zāoyù, wǒ gǎntóngshēnshòu.
Hearing about his ordeal, I felt as if it had happened to me.
Zuòwéi yí gè mǔqīn, tā duì nà wèi shīqù háizi de māma gǎntóngshēnshòu.
As a mother, she deeply empathized with the woman who lost her child.

Tips

usage
Originally a polite expression acknowledging a favor given to a friend. In modern usage, it almost exclusively means deep empathy — feeling someone else's pain as your own.

Stroke Order

gǎn
tóng
shēn
shòu