understand

make oneself understood, make sb understand

这两个短语意思不同:make oneself understood表示“使自己被人理解”, make sb understand则表示“使某人理解”。例如:

Can he make himself understood in Eng- lish?

他能用英语表达自己的意思吗?

I tried to make him understand the mean- ing of the word.

我曾尽力使他理解这个词的意思。

understand, appreciate, comprehend, see

这组词都有“明白”或“理解”的意思。它们的区别在于：

1.see的基本意思可指一般视觉的“看见”,也可指有意识地“观察”,引申可表示由观察而“领会”“理解”。

2.comprehend指用智力充分而完全地理解事物的内在含义。例如:

The child read the story but didn't comprehend its full meaning.那孩子看了这篇故事,但没有理解它的全部意思。

If you can use a word correctly and effectively you comprehend it.如果你能正确、有效地使用一个词,你就是了解它了。

3.understand则是明白别人说的话,完全了解某种事实。例如:

My wife doesn't understand me.我的妻子不理解我。

I've read the letter but I don't understand it.这封信我已经看过了,可是看不懂。

4.appreciate指对某物有较深的理解能力,强调“欣赏”。例如:

She appreciated a work of art.她欣赏一件艺术品。

I am incapable of appreciating classical music.我不会欣赏古典音乐。

understand, know, learn

这组词都有“了解”的意思。它们的区别是:know指对某一事物的直接了解或通过体验、传授获得知识; learn意为“听说”“得知”,强调对某一具体事物从“不知”到“知”的变化; understand指对某事物的性质、规律、意义等都十分了解,而且还指了解它所包含的其他意义和关系,其程度要比know了解得更深、更广。例如:

How had he learned that secret?他怎么得知这个秘密的?

They were greatly surprised to learn the news.听到这个消息,他们都很吃惊。

Do you understand the difficulty of my position?你了解我处境的困难吗?