by Kate Woodford
Following on from last week’s post on near-synonyms, we’re looking this week at various ways of saying that we understand things. Starting with a very common near-synonym, the verb ‘realize’ is often used for talking about the state of understanding and knowing things: I realize this is difficult for you. It is also used to say that we start to understand something: As she was speaking I suddenly realized that we’d met before. The verb ‘grasp’ also means ‘understand’ but is used to mean ‘to succeed in understanding something’ and is often used to talk about understanding difficult things: It was quite a high-level talk but I think I managed to grasp the main points./She couldn’t seem to grasp the concept. (The noun ‘grasp’ is also used: His grasp of grammar is very impressive for a seven-year-old.)
A phrase which is used for succeeding in understanding is ‘get the gist’. If you get the gist of something spoken or written, you manage to understand the main points though you may not understand or remember the precise details: I think I got the gist of what he was saying. Another such phrase is make sense of. If you make sense of something complicated or unclear, you manage to understand it: I’ve read the paragraph three times now and I still can’t make sense of it! ‘Appreciate’ is used in a similar way. If you appreciate something serious about a situation, you understand it or you understand the reasons for it: I appreciate that this is a very difficult decision for you to make.
As we mentioned in a previous post (There is no such thing as a true synonym in English), ‘comprehend’ is a formal near-synonym for ‘understand’. We comprehend serious, difficult things, usually situations rather than subjects: They evidently failed to comprehend the seriousness of the threat.
An informal word for ‘understand’ that is very commonly used in conversation is ‘get’. It is often used in the phrase ‘get it’: Everyone’s going crazy for him. I don’t get it – what do they see in him? Note that we often say that we ‘get a joke’ when we understand what is funny about a joke. We use this sense of ‘get’ in other phrases too. For example, you might say ‘I get the message’ to someone who is asking you to do something but is saying it in an indirect way, usually because they don’t want to offend you: Oh, I get the message – you want to go without me, right? Similarly, you might say ‘I get the picture’ to a person who is describing a bad situation in a slightly indirect way to let them know that you understand what they are saying: ‘He’s not the most organised person and he can be a bit forgetful.’ ‘I get the picture. I’ve worked with people like that.’
Sometimes it takes a while to understand something. In British English, the phrase ‘the penny drops’ is used to say that you or someone else finally understand what is being said or what is happening: Then I saw them together at Sophie’s party and the penny dropped. I had no idea that they were a couple!
Kate woodford you are simply awesome.
You are very kind. Thank you!
Does “catch it” and “get it” have the same conotation, meaning we understand something?
Hello! Good question. ‘Catch it’ (‘I didn’t catch it’) means to manage to hear something whereas ‘get’ means to understand something. I hope that helps.
Sure! Thanks for the prompt reply. I really appreciate it!!
Very useful article.
Great! Pleased to hear it.
Useful. Thank you!
Thanks for the feedback!
Very interestring article. Keep up the good work. Congratulations!
Thank you!
Very clear and concise at the same time, thank you.
You’re welcome! Thanks for your kind comments.
This is awesome. It helps me to teach ESL better.
That’s exactly what we want to hear! Thank you!
Reblogged this on afnan1991.
We also say ” now I see” when we want to show that something became clear to us. As for me I love to say ” clouds parted”. I heard it from my friend from Nebraska, whom I want to thank for this lovely expression endlessly)))
Now I have learned one more -” the penny drops”.
Thank you very much for clarifying how to use these ” understand” words and expanding our vocabulary!
Thank you – that’s a great point (‘I see’) and I probably should have mentioned it. (Some phrases are so ingrained in the language, it’s hard to think of them when you are looking at a particular area.) Keep reading the posts and we’ll try to introduce you to some other nice phrases!
Pingback: I appreciate that this is hard for you. (Other ways of saying ‘understand’) | englishmoreformal
Pingback: Teksty tematyczne do nauki słownictwa – aktualizacja (II) | KRAMIK Z ANGIELSKIM
Reblogged this on premkumar131's Blog.
Pingback: Verbs (lexis) | ELT Infodump
Please what are some other ways of saying “you look familiar”?
Super
Very useful, I loved it.
Very useful.you will not” appreciate” how it is going to boost my confidence. Thank you.
Wonderful