I am not sure how to understand it

[tedmc]

I am not sure how to understand it.

The sentence is taken from Good Taste's thread, which he has been using in other threads as well. I have sought comment from Piscean but he must have overlooked it.
"How to understand something" doesn't sound right to me. Does it to you?

 

[Rover_KE]

The sentence is taken from Good Taste's thread, which he has been using in other threads as well. I have sought comment from Piscean but he must have overlooked it.
"... how to understand something" doesn't sound right to me. Does it to you?

Yes.

 

[tedmc]

Yes.

One either understands something or doesn't. Is there such a thing as "how to understand/the way to understand something"?
Say someone does not know the meaning of a word or a phrase. Does he/she say "how do I understand the meaning?" or "what is the meaning?" or "please explain the meaning"?

 

[teechar]

It works. Note that "understand" can mean interpret.

 

[Rollercoaster1]

"How to understand something" doesn't sound right to me. Does it to you?

'Does it (sound right) to you' is this what it means in the sentence above? Also, I think there should be a comma (,) right after 'me' and the first letter of the following sentence written in lowercase.

 

[tedmc]

'Does it (sound) right to you' is this what it means in the sentence above? Also, I think there should be a comma (,) right after 'me' and the first letter of the following sentence written in lowercase.

No, that would make it a comma splice.

Does it (sound right) to you? The two words in parenthesis are understood, which I was lazy to type.

 

[tedmc]

It works. Note that "understand" can mean interpret.

Then why say understand when you mean interpret?

 

[Rover_KE]

Personal choice. It makes no difference either way.

 

[PeterCW]

Then why say understand when you mean interpret?

A native BrE speaker is more likely to use "understand" in that context.

 

[emsr2d2]

You could take "I'm not sure how to understand it" to mean "I'm not sure how to make sense of it".

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Then why say understand when you mean interpret?

Why not?

The native English speakers here all think it's natural. That should be good enough for you.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

You could take "I'm not sure how to understand it" to mean "I'm not sure how to make sense of it".

Exactly. It means it's hard to sort out.