Rick wrote:
Okay, here's a question for the native English speakers on this forum:
When somebody you know goes to a funeral, what do you say to him/her? My teacher, who's a highly skilled English teacher (close to native speaker), didn't know the answer and me neither. According to her, saying something like 'good luck' sounds awkward in this kind of situation.
In Dutch we have a word which perfectly fits in a situation as described above, but we couldn't find a proper English equivalent.
Anyone?
Maybe 'I'm sorry for your loss' if the person who died was a friend or family member of theirs. If they are going to a funeral to support a friend who has lost someone (for instance, if your friend went to his friend's mother's funeral, but didn't actually know the person who died) you could just say that you're sorry, and will be thinking of him as he's at the funeral. But no matter what your language is, those conversations are tough. Once your friend knows you care, that is the main thing, even if you don't have the 'perfect' words.