How to use understand in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb, interjection

Understand means to know the meaning of; to parse or have parsed correctly; to comprehend. Example: “Can you repeat what you just said? I didn't understand.”

Examples of understand by meaning

verbTo know the meaning of; to parse or have parsed correctly; to comprehend.

Can you repeat what you just said? I didn't understand.
In reading this book, be very certain you never go past a word you do not fully understand.1950, L. Ron Hubbard, Dianetics, New Era Publications, published 1999, →ISBN, →OCLC, page ix
Swearing doesn't just mean what we now understand by "dirty words".2013 June 14, Sam Leith, “Where the Profound Meets the Profane”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 1, page 37

verbTo be thoroughly familiar with; to be able to undertake properly.

The students understood the assignment.

verbTo comprehend a fact or principle; to regard or come to regard a belief as such.

I understand that company policy says I can't get a refund, but can you make an exception?
There's been no formal declaration, but it's understood that a state of war exists between the two countries

verbTo know the intent, motives or character of; (of events) to know the causes of or reasons for.

One day you say you love me, the next you ignore me—I don't understand you!

verbTo believe or infer, to think one grasps sufficiently despite potentially incomplete knowledge.

I've been given to understand that you have a package for me?
At least four people are understood to have been injured.

verbTo regard as present when not.

In the imperative mood, the word “you” is usually understood.
‘I understand that the district was considered a sort of sanctuary,’ the Chief was saying.1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC

More sentences with understand

My professor's accent is so thick that it's difficult to understand her lectures.From the entry accent
Most Americans don't know 'WC' and many Brits mock 'bathroom' but almost everyone understands 'toilet' or 'lavatory'.From the entry bathroom
Any rule of thumb, however true (it is), is useless unless you understand its underlying logic.From the entry however
I explained enough for her to understand the issue: there wasn't enough of an economic surplus.From the entry enough
He was speaking an Arabic that they'd never heard before and could barely understand.From the entry arabic
John just doesn't understand that laughing at Mary all day is not very discreet.From the entry discreet
To understand the effects of the accident, we dropped a dummy from the rooftop.From the entry dummy
Americans don't know 'WC' and Brits mock 'bathroom' but everyone usually understands 'toilet' or 'lavatory'.From the entry lavatory
The professor prepared a demo to help her class understand the topic.From the entry demo
Object-oriented C++ code is easier to understand for a human than C code.From the entry code
Our dinner guest was so sesquipedalian that no one could understand what he said.From the entry sesquipedalian
The public won't understand this concept. We need to dumb down our explanation of it.From the entry dumb down
Not until I got his email did I fully understand his disappointment.From the entry until
The illustration showing the water cycle made it much easier to understand for the children.From the entry illustration
No-one could understand why she had hidden the shovel; her motives were obscure at best.From the entry motive
I can read and understand most texts in German, but my speaking is awful.From the entry speaking
My employer does not understand how low my nominal wage is.From the entry nominal
I need to make a review of the book before I can understand it.From the entry review
To understand how a nuclear reactor works, we must first look at its makeup.From the entry makeup
Failing to understand the question, he gave me a blank stare.From the entry blank
I don't really understand him; we're just not on the same wavelength.From the entry on the same wavelength
If you don't understand, ask him to break down the numbers for you.From the entry break down
When you speak clearly, people understand you. If you don't mumble, the obverse effect is observed.From the entry obverse
To make your proof easier to understand, I recommend you insert a few more steps.From the entry insert
I really can't understand how something like this could simply pop up out of the blue.From the entry out of the blue
You can explain it until you're blue in the face, but he will never understand.From the entry until one is blue in the face
The book was written for professionals, but an intelligent layperson could understand most of it.From the entry layperson
I have fixed the parts I understand, and the rest leaves me at a loss.From the entry at a loss
Touch base with your boss before you start work to make sure you understand the project.From the entry touch base

Meaning of understand

verb To know the meaning of; to parse or have parsed correctly; to comprehend.
verb To know the meaning of.
verb To be thoroughly familiar with; to be able to undertake properly.

Full definition of understand

Questions about understand in a sentence

How do you use understand in a sentence?: Understand is used as a verb and interjection. For example: “Can you repeat what you just said? I didn't understand.”
What is a short sentence with understand?: “The students understood the assignment.”
What does understand mean?: Understand means to know the meaning of; to parse or have parsed correctly; to comprehend.

Adapted from Wiktionary: understand (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use understand in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/understand. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.