A： I couldn't pay my bills and I got evicted. So I ended up sleeping in my car.But then somebody stole my car.
B: That's rough (tough),bro.

Here "that's rough" and "that's tough" are same,right? They are all showing sympathy,right?

Question

A： I couldn't pay my bills and I got evicted. So I ended up sleeping in my car.But then somebody stole my car.
B:  That's rough (tough),bro.

Here "that's rough" and "that's tough" are same,right? They are all showing sympathy,right?

Answer

Hi!

They are both very similar, and you are correct, they are showing sympathy.

In my experience, 'That's rough' would be the more common response in a situation like this. To use 'That's rough' I'd normally use a longer expression such as 'That's a really tough situation'.