understood
part of speech
verb, past tense and past participle of «understand» (understand, understands, understood, understanding); adjective (understood)
meaning for a pupil
1) Understood is the past of «understand»: knew or got the meaning of something. tree →
2) Understood means known or agreed without being said: «it is understood that…». tree →
3) «Understood» on its own means «I understand and I will do it». tree →
sense in the lessons
In school a teacher asks «Have you understood?» and pupils show they have understood by explaining it in their own words. If you have not understood, ask a question — that is how learning works. In stories «She finally understood» shows a moment of discovery. Phrases: «make yourself understood», «it is understood that».
examples
- I understood the question the second time. tree →
- Have you all understood the instructions? tree →
- She finally understood why her friend was sad. tree →
- «Be home by six.» «Understood.» tree →
- He made himself understood with hand signals. tree →
- Nobody understood the joke. tree →
- It is understood that phones stay in bags. tree →
- He understood the gypsy woman's meaning now. tree →
note
Irregular: understand, understood, understood (not «understanded»). Like stand → stood. Saying «I've understood» when you haven't does not help — ask.
In the corpora
- In tests in Hawaii, dolphins understood that word order in hand-signal sentences changes the meaning.
- Koko the gorilla used many signs, but scientists still argue how much she understood, so careful tests are needed.
- The Head Chief says Taffy has made a great invention which men will one day call writing, though pictures are not always understood.
- At present it is only pictures, and ... pictures are not always properly understood.»
- In a command, the subject «you» is understood, so «Stop.» is a complete sentence.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «understood» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.