Question
Updated on
8 May
- French (France)
-
English (UK)
Question about English (UK)
What is the difference between to deal with and to cope with ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
What is the difference between to deal with and to cope with ?Feel free to just provide example sentences.
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- English (UK)
@MikeFrance
They are very similar, but “cope with” suggests something more difficult, especially from an emotional point of view. So it is more empathetic, and therefore isn’t appropriate for more matter-of-fact issues.
Some examples:
A secretary has to deal with any correspondence, the diary and any travel arrangements. (No empathy required: cope with would not be appropriate.)
She had to cope with domestic abuse from her now-estranged husband, while bringing up six children, some with special physical and emotional needs. (Empathy required: deal with is Ok, but cope with is much better.)
There have been various slogans for or against trans people, saying
Trans women are women (or Trans women are not women): deal with it! (No empathy for the people who hold the opposite view, so “cope” wouldn’t work here.
So to summarise: deal with can be empathetic, but is often neutral or even negative (in the phrase Deal with it!)
Cope with is almost always empathetic (though it could be used ironically, as in “You poor darling, having to cope with a broken nail!”)
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