In English we feel sorry *for* people.

Whether this indicates genuine sympathy *or* mocking depends on literal/nonliteral and direct/indirect qualities of speech communicated via timing and tone.

In English, it is highly unusual to say “I feel sorry about you.” In fact, I really can’t think of a way that this would happen by a native English speaker. Since English is Germanic in origin, likewise in German I can’t think of any form in which the “über” or “um” preposition would apply as directed to a second person… English as it developed from German simply does not feel sorry about you. Part of this may be based on the notion that often, in German, prepositions also meaning “about” indicate physical movement/placement–as in moving about a room, (geht um das Zimmer), or being above something (hängt über es). The preposition “für” is the analogue of English’s “for.” Often, feelings are für jemand, for someone.

The usual use of “sorry about” is in “I’m sorry about that.”

“I feel sorry about that.”

“I feel sorry about what happened to you.”

“I feel sorry about the mistake.”

“I feel sorry about recommending you for this job.”

…

“I feel sorry about you losing your job,” has the construction, “I feel sorry about you,” but it is the event of “you losing your job” about which one is sorry.

We feel sorry *for* a sentient entity.

We feel sorry *about* an event.

Hit a linguistics listserv. Then you’ll get the answers from people who actually study spoken language. “I feel sorry about you,” sounds like a pidgin construction from some language that uses a prepositional “about” analogue differently than standard English.

Prepositions–the real acid test of fluency!

I can’t think of any normal situation in which to use “I feel sorry about you”, but if you compare this to “I feel sorry about pushing the old hag”, expressing regret for the action, then “I feel sorry about you” might express regret for causing you. Pretty cruel thing to hear from a parent, I suppose. 🙂