Suggestions for (simple) things to say at a funeral?
A Chinese acquaintance has died.
At the funeral will be her husband and mother.
The mother has limited English.
My Chinese is very limited.
Any suggestions for appropriate, yet simple, things for me to say?
Thanks in advance.

tags: language, culture

Question

Suggestions for (simple) things to say at a funeral?
A Chinese acquaintance has died.
At the funeral will be her husband and mother.
The mother has limited English.
My Chinese is very limited.
Any suggestions for appropriate, yet simple, things for me to say?
Thanks in advance.

tags: language, culture

Answer

usually people would use “请节哀顺变。” which means "please dont be so sad, things will get better." 
then you could add this sentence, “要保重身体." means "please take care of yourself."
Using these two sentences is proper enough in a funeral.

Answer

Actually The sentence isn't used to cheer the family up, instead, it's to show your consolation, which is enough.

Yea, "toughen up" can be translated like "坚强点！”"“振作起来！” ，but usually people who are closed the family would say something like this. If you are not familiar with the family I supposed, it's not proper to say that. If so, you could use "请振作起来。”

Culturally speaking ,it's impossible to toughen up, especially in the funeral, so it's not a good idea to just tell those who just losed their love toughen up.

Answer

if the mother（old woman）"请保重身体“.      (young woman):"请节哀顺变，请多多保重“