understand
part of speech
verb (understand, understands, understood, understanding)
meaning for a pupil
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 →
sense 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 the corpora
- Knowing this helps you understand why a family's week is planned round a piece of paper on the fridge.
- Sometimes grown-ups close a door, lower their voices or spell out words so children won't understand.
- Never sign something you do not understand; asking questions first is what sensible adults do.
- Parents may ask to see the chat or the TV history to understand what happened and fix it, not to spy.
- This is why it can say "I understand how you feel" in a kind voice: kind people often write that.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «understand» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.