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Hi Why does the sentence below mean "you didn't understand it yesterday and you still don't"? Because it refers to when you explained it? What I didn’ t understand was this equation in Maths.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Why does the sentence below mean "you didn't understand it yesterday and you still don't"? Why do you think it means that?

(What I didn’ t understand was this equation in Maths.)

CalifJim · Answer

Tara2and you still don't
What I didn’t understand was this equation in maths.

No. The sentence doesn't say anything about whether you understand it now or you don't understand it now. It remains silent on that question.

It's just that in the typical case where the question is asked (as a student asking a question about an equation he/she encountered yesterday), the student is asking, probably pointing at it on paper, because he/she still doesn't understand it.

So the situation may show that "still don't understand" is implied even though the words of the sentence do not explicitly say that. You get this information from the real-world situation at the time the sentence is said, and not from the sentence itself.

In a less typical case you may be talking about your student days 20 years ago, when you didn't understand a certain equation, but since then you have understood it because one day, long ago, your teacher explained it to you. Then the situation implies that you do understand the equation now even though you didn't at the time of the story you're telling about your student days.

In short, it is not contradictory to say either of these:

What I didn't understand was this equation, and I still don't.
What I didn't understand was this equation, but now I do.

CJ

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