Most formally of all:Bitte nehmen Sie mein tiefempfundenes Mitgefühl zu Ihrem
schweren Verlust entgegen.
Please accept my deeply felt sympathy at your terrible loss.(b) On a card one might write:Mit tiefstem Beileid.
With deepest sympathy.See 46.1 (p. 121) for the zero declension.
Wir fühlen mit Ihnen.
We feel for you.Wir teilen Ihr Leid.
We share your sorrow.See also 111.3j (p. 399) on ‘Grief and mourning’.
(c) An obituary notice in the paper might employ the highly formal and literary verbs
entschlafen and hin*scheiden:Gestern entschlief nach langem Leiden mein lieber Gatte, Rudolf
Engel. In tiefer/stiller Trauer, Katharina Engel.
My dearly beloved husband, Rudolf Engel, passed away yesterday
following a long illness. Sadly missed by Katharina Engel.Am Freitag schied nach kurzer Krankheit meine liebe Frau,
Mechthild Sammer, hin. In stiller Trauer, Alois Sammer.
My dearly beloved wife, Mechthild Sammer, died on Friday following a
short illness. Sadly missed by Alois Sammer.Wir trauern um unseren verstorbenen Bruder, Harald Meier.
We mourn the loss of our recently departed brother, Harald Meier.See 38.1 (p. 90) for prepositional verbs.
(d) Another typical newspaper notice is:Wir bedanken uns für alle Beileidsbeweise.
Thank you for all expressions of condolence.(e) The reason for someone’s absence or for the cancellation of an event may be
given as:Wegen eines Trauerfalls in der Familie muss die heutige
Veranstaltung leider aus*fallen.
Owing to a family bereavement today’s event has had to be
cancelled.See 67.1–3 (pp. 201–4) on ‘Thanking’ for acknowledging commiseration.
66
Expressing commiseration