Being present with someone who’s grieving mostly means sitting there. Words are optional. Being there isn’t.

Grief has no answer, which is why trying to supply one tends to make things harder. What a person needs is evidence that they are not alone in the room, and that comes from your being there rather than from anything you manage to say. Sitting in silence beside somebody is not a failure; it is the actual service.

If somebody you know is going through that, you can simply be there. Sit with them, bring food, keep turning up after the first week when everyone else stops. You do not need the right words to be useful.