Did someone say ‘I feel you’ to you, and you’re not sure what it means? In this article, we’ll look at the definition, origin, and example sentences.
In brief, though, ‘I feel you’ is a slang phrase that means “I agree with you,” “I understand you,” or “I relate to what you’re saying.”
‘I feel you’ is a slang term that means “I agree with, understand, or can relate to what you’re saying.” It is somewhat analogous to the phrases “I know what you mean,” “I hear you,” or “I sympathize with you.”
This is an interesting term because it doesn’t just imply that the person understands what you are saying but also that they understand how you’re feeling. That being said, the meaning can vary slightly depending on the tone of voice and context. Depending on how ‘I feel you’ is said, it might be more of an expression of understanding how you feel or simply an expression along the lines of “I get what you’re saying.”
Though the only difference between ‘I feel you’ and ‘I feel for you’ is the word ‘for,’ these phrases do have different meanings.
‘I feel you’ means that you understand what someone is saying, agree with them, or understand how they are feeling. ‘I feel for you’ means that you empathize or sympathize with how someone is feeling– for example, you might tell a friend that you really ‘feel for’ them if they have had a string of bad luck in their romantic relationships.
A related phrase you might hear is ‘do you feel me?’
This means, ‘do you understand what I’m saying?’ Depending on the context, this can be an earnest question or an aggressive prompt.
‘I feel you’ is a phrase that is primarily used in the US and stems from hip-hop culture. This expression originated in and was first heard in rap music and has become increasingly common in American informal speech.
How would you use ‘I feel you’ in a sentence? Let’s look at some examples.
There are a number of other ways you can express a similar message as ‘I feel you.’ Here are some examples:
Ready to learn some more idioms and phrases? We feel you! Head over to our idioms blog for more idiomatic English phrases.
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