Decide

[warmwinter]

I have just found the following sentence in YouTube's subtitle:

He examined the boy, and decided that there was just a chance of bringing him to life.

Meanwhile I have another sentence I wrote down a couple of months ago, that is:

She decided she liked Old Ben.


To me, above two "decide" looked strange, because they don't make decision.

Am I right thinking they mean "be sure" ?

She decided she liked Old Ben =She was sure she liked Old Ben

 

[emsr2d2]

I have just found the following sentence in some YouTube's subtitles:
"He examined the boy, and decided that there was just a chance of bringing him to life."

[STRIKE]Meanwhile[/STRIKE] I have another sentence I wrote down a couple of months ago, [STRIKE]that[/STRIKE] which is:
"She decided she liked Old Ben."


To me, [STRIKE]above two[/STRIKE] "decide" [STRIKE]looked[/STRIKE] looks strange in those sentences (no comma here) because [STRIKE]they[/STRIKE] the people [STRIKE]don't[/STRIKE] didn't make a decision.

Am I right in thinking they mean "be sure"? No, they don't mean the same thing.

She decided she liked Old Ben = She was sure she liked Old Ben​.

Welcome to the forum. :hi:

In both cases, "decide" is absolutely fine. In the first, "he" presumably examined the boy whilst asking himself "Is there a chance of bringing him [back] to life?" The possible answers are "Yes" and "No". He decided that the answer was "Yes, there is a chance".
The same sort of explanation applies to the second. She probably thought about it for a while - "Do I like Ben? Don't I like Ben?" and eventually came to the decision that she did like him. If she couldn't make up her mind, she would be able to say "I can't decide if I like Ben or not".

 

[jutfrank]

Good question. You are correct in noticing that they don't really mean 'make a decision' in the normal sense of choosing.

In both cases here, decided means something like 'came to the conclusion'.

 

[emsr2d2]

I agree with jutfrank that it effectively means "came to the conclusion" but I think the use of "decide" in both suggests that there was a period of contemplation undertaken before they reached their respective conclusions.

 

[jutfrank]

I think the use of "decide" in both suggests that there was a period of contemplation undertaken before they reached their respective conclusions.

Yes, for sure.

 

[warmwinter]

Teachers, thank you.

I understand.

 

[Rover_KE]

warmwinter, there is no need to write a new post just to say "Thank you". Simply click on the "Thank" button at the bottom left-hand corner of any post you find helpful. It saves everybody's time.

 

[teechar]

I have just found the following sentence in the subtitle of a YouTube video. [STRIKE]'s subtitle:[/STRIKE]

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