What's the difference between believe and understand?

Believe


Definition:

  • (n.) To exercise belief in; to credit upon the authority or testimony of another; to be persuaded of the truth of, upon evidence furnished by reasons, arguments, and deductions of the mind, or by circumstances other than personal knowledge; to regard or accept as true; to place confidence in; to think; to consider; as, to believe a person, a statement, or a doctrine.
  • (v. i.) To have a firm persuasion, esp. of the truths of religion; to have a persuasion approaching to certainty; to exercise belief or faith.
  • (v. i.) To think; to suppose.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Unfortunately, due to confidentiality clauses that have been imposed on us by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, we are unable to provide our full names and … titles … However, we believe the evidence that will be submitted will validate the statements that we are making in this submission.” The submission detailed specific allegations – including names and dates – of sexual abuse of child detainees, violence and bullying of children, suicide attempts by children and medical neglect.
  • (2) It has been generally believed that the ligand-binding of steroid hormone receptors triggers an allosteric change in receptor structure, manifested by an increased affinity of the receptor for DNA in vitro and nuclear target elements in vivo, as monitored by nuclear translocation.
  • (3) The sound of the ambulance frightened us, especially us children, and panic gripped the entire community: people believe that whoever is taken into the ambulance to the hospital will die – you so often don’t see them again.
  • (4) 8.47pm: Cameron says he believes Britain's best days lie ahead and that he believes in public service.
  • (5) Ryzhkov added: "I believe they want to keep him in prison for another three or four years at least, so he is not released until well after the next presidential elections in 2012."
  • (6) Of the 622 people interviewed, a large proportion (30.5%) believed that the first deciduous tooth should erupt between the age of 5-7 months; the next commonly mentioned time of tooth eruption was 7-9 months of age; and 50.3% of the respondents claimed to have seen a case of prematurely erupted primary teeth.
  • (7) Parents believed they should try to normalize their child's experiences, that interactions with health care professionals required negotiation and assertiveness, and that they needed some support person(s) outside of the family.
  • (8) The so-called literati aren't insular – this from a woman who ran the security service – but we aren't going to apologise for what we believe in either.
  • (9) They were protecting the sit-in because they believed that, if they left, the police would follow them."
  • (10) Batson believes there is a “mood” that needs to be seized upon.
  • (11) There are widespread examples across the US of the police routinely neglecting crimes of sexual violence and refusing to believe victims.
  • (12) United believe it is more likely the right-back can be bought in the summer but are exploring what would represent the considerable coup of acquiring the 26-year-old immediately.
  • (13) Does anybody honestly believe the vast majority of migrants don’t want that too?
  • (14) Although, it did give me the confidence to believe that my voice was valid and important.
  • (15) That is, he believes, to look at massively difficult, interlocking problems through too narrow a lens.
  • (16) However the imagery is more complex, because scholars believe it also relates to another cherished pre-Raphaelite Arthurian legend, Sir Degrevaunt who married his mortal enemy's daughter.
  • (17) After examining the cases reported in literature (Sacks, Barabas, Beighton Sykes), they point out that, contrary to what is generally believed, the syndrome is not rare and cases, sporadic or familial, of recurrent episodes of spontaneous rupture of the intestine and large vessels or peripheral arteries are frequent.
  • (18) Gordon Brown believes that the fact of the G20 summit has persuaded many tax havens, such as Switzerland and Liechtenstein, to indicate that they will adopt a more open approach.
  • (19) I believe that truth sets man free.” It was a curious stance for someone who spent many years undercover as a counter-espionage informant, a government propagandist, and unofficial asset of the Central Intelligence Agency.
  • (20) Whenever you are ill and a medicine is prescribed for you and you take the medicine until balance is achieved in you and then you put that medicine down.” Farrakhan does not dismiss the doctrine of the past, but believes it is no longer appropriate for the present.

Understand


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To have just and adequate ideas of; to apprehended the meaning or intention of; to have knowledge of; to comprehend; to know; as, to understand a problem in Euclid; to understand a proposition or a declaration; the court understands the advocate or his argument; to understand the sacred oracles; to understand a nod or a wink.
  • (v. t.) To be apprised, or have information, of; to learn; to be informed of; to hear; as, I understand that Congress has passed the bill.
  • (v. t.) To recognize or hold as being or signifying; to suppose to mean; to interpret; to explain.
  • (v. t.) To mean without expressing; to imply tacitly; to take for granted; to assume.
  • (v. t.) To stand under; to support.
  • (v. i.) To have the use of the intellectual faculties; to be an intelligent being.
  • (v. i.) To be informed; to have or receive knowledge.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The results indicated that neuropsychological measures may serve to broaden the concept of intelligence and that a brain-related criterion may contribute to a fuller understanding of its nature.
  • (2) Models able to describe the events of cellular growth and division and the dynamics of cell populations are useful for the understanding of functional control mechanisms and for the theoretical support for automated analysis of flow cytometric data and of cell volume distributions.
  • (3) It involves creativity, understanding of art form and the ability to improvise in the highly complex environment of a care setting.” David Cameron has boosted dementia awareness but more needs to be done Read more She warns: “To effect a cultural change in dementia care requires a change of thinking … this approach is complex and intricate, and can change cultural attitudes by regarding the arts as central to everyday life of the care home.” Another participant, Mary*, a former teacher who had been bedridden for a year, read plays with the reminiscence arts practitioner.
  • (4) The purpose of these studies was to better understand the molecular basis of chromosome aberration formation after mitomycin C treatment.
  • (5) Attempts are now being made to use this increased understanding to produce effective killed vaccines that produce immune responses in the lung.
  • (6) The evidence suggests that by the age of 15 years many adolescents show a reliable level of competence in metacognitive understanding of decision-making, creative problem-solving, correctness of choice, and commitment to a course of action.
  • (7) It is entirely proper for serving judges to set out the arguments in high-profile cases to help public understanding of the legal issues, as long as it is done in an even-handed way.
  • (8) Further study both of the signaling events that lead to MPF activation and of the substrates for phosphorylation by MPF should lead to a comprehensive understanding of the biochemistry of cell division.
  • (9) The only way we can change it, is if we get people to look in and understand what is happening.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest Dean, Clare and their baby son.
  • (10) Grisham said she and other aides had not been aware of the trip and “appreciate everyone’s understanding”.
  • (11) With better understanding of metabolic and compositional requirements, great advances have been made in the area of total parenteral nutrition.
  • (12) I did not - do not - quite understand how some are able to contemplate his anti-semitism with indifference.
  • (13) To get a better understanding of the different cell interactions during the immune response to a hapten-carrier complex, the effects of immunogenic or tolerogenic injections of various hapten-containing compounds on the responses induced by immunization with the same hapten coupled to protein carriers were studied.
  • (14) A clearer understanding of these relationships and their application to clinical management await further study.
  • (15) A good understanding of upper gastrointestinal physiology is required to properly understand the pathophysiological events in various diseases or after operations on the upper gastrointestinal tract.
  • (16) More needs to be known about the direct and indirect modulation of cytokine production by cyclosporin A in connective tissues, in order to understand its potential value in clinical disorders.
  • (17) This is not an argument for the status quo: teaching must be given greater priority within HE, but the flipside has to be an understanding on the part of students, ministers, officials, the public and the media that academics (just like politicians) cannot make everyone happy all of the time.
  • (18) For a better understanding of the cytochrome P-450 mediated reactions, we studied the metabolism of midazolam in microsomal fractions prepared from twelve human livers.
  • (19) Critical in this understanding are the subtle changes that occur in the individual patient, reflecting the natural history of the disease or response to its treatment.
  • (20) We are already witnessing a wholly understandable uprising of protest.