understand

Everyday

1. To understand is to know what something means or how it works. tree →
2. To understand someone is to know how they feel or why they act as they do. tree →
3. «I understand that …» can mean «I have heard that …». tree →

In the lessons

In school, understanding is more than remembering: you understand a maths method when you can explain why it works. Teachers ask «Do you understand?» — it is fine to say no and ask again. In getting along with others, understanding feelings helps friendships. Phrases: «make yourself understood», «understand each other», «understanding» (kind and forgiving).

Examples

• Do you understand the question? tree →
• I don't understand this word. tree →
• Now I understand how magnets work. tree →
• My mum understands how I feel. tree →
• Read it again until you understand it. tree →
• She understood the joke at last. tree →
• We understand each other without words. tree →
• Can you make yourself understood in French? tree →
• She did not understand even now. tree →

Note

Irregular: understand, understood, understood. Not usually used in -ing form for this meaning: say «I understand», not «I am understanding». «Misunderstand» means understand wrongly. «Understanding» as an adjective means kind and patient.

In Jewish tradition

In the Torah "understand" often means to grasp with the mind and to act wisely.

Interpretation. Tradition prizes understanding (binah) as a gift of God, and Babel's confusion is that people could no longer understand each other.

Examples

• If they were wise, they would understand this, they would discern their latter end. (Torah DEU.32.29, JPS 1917) tree →
• For they are a nation void of counsel, and there is no understanding in them. (Torah DEU.32.28, JPS 1917) tree →
• Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.' (Torah GEN.11.7, JPS 1917) tree →
• Declare, if thou hast the understanding. (Writings JOB.38.4, JPS 1917) tree →
• And where is the place of understanding? (Writings JOB.28.12, JPS 1917) tree →
• What understandest thou, which is not in us? (Writings JOB.15.9, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Irregular: understand, understood, understood. Not usually used in -ing form for this meaning: say «I understand», not «I am understanding». «Misunderstand» means understand wrongly. «Understanding» as an adjective means kind and patient.