COMPREHENSIVE, COMPREHENSIBLE

INTRODUCTORY MATERIAL

Read and translate the following sentences paying special atten tion to the words in bold type.

1. «Crime and Industrial Society in the Nineteenth Century,» by J. J. Tobias, gives a comprehensive picture of its subject in discussing the argument that «bad times lead to an increase in crime.» 2. The professor did some comprehensive research before he wrote his book.3. The Italian Renaissance had come into England as an ornamental fashion rather than an architectural style. Such it remained until the middle of the century (the sixteenth century), when a few people tried to achieve something purer and more comprehensive. 4. «Ah, those were days. That was a gay life. This» — he made a comprehensive gesture with his left hand— «this is stupid.» 5. A 14-year-old schoolboy was demanded in custody yesterday at South-wark North Juvenile Court charged with murdering another schoolboy, Lee Selmes, 14, in the playground of Wandsworth Comprehensive School on Thursday. 6. Indeed, it (Morning Star) gives a more comprehensive sport coverage than I had expected. 7. Sam, with a comprehensive gaze, which took in Mr Srnangle’s cap, feet, head, face, legs, and whiskers, all at the same time, continued to look steadily on with every demonstration of lively satisfaction. 8. The uncommonly spacious grounds of Christ’s (Christ’s College at Cambridge) had by 1889 two big unconnected ranges standing in no comprehensible spatial relation to each other. 9. Only the second half of the book was comprehensible to me, the first part being too obscure. 10. «Real estate» seems an incomprehensible and slightly comic word to the average man on the British side of the Atlantic, who wonders on hearing it whether there is any such thing as «unreal estate». 11. These (words and phrases) and many others were quite incomprehensible to Miss Baldwin, who was equally bewildered when friends said «It’s your funeral» or «Believe it or not». 12. He had found her second marriage entirely incomprehensible.

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Comprehensive adj. Including much, inclusive; able to comprehend well, e.g. a ~ account (description, review);о ~ definition; a ~ collection’ of philosophical writings; a ~ survey of slum conditions; a man with a ~ mind (grasp of ideas); ~ disarmament.

Comprehensible adj. That can be understood fully; intelligible, e.g. a book that is ~ only to specialists.

Antonym: incomprehensible adj

Derivative: incomprehensibly adv.

The adjectives comprehensive and comprehensible are not synonymous, but they are sometimes confused by Russian learners because of their likeness. Both were derived from the same verb, to comprehend, with the help of different suffixes, and reflect different meanings of this verb (to understand, to grasp with the mind, to take in, to include, to comprise). The Russian equivalents of these adjectives are as follows: comprehensive means обширный, всеобъемлющий, всесторонний; легко схватывающий; comprehensible means понятный, вразумительный. It should be mentioned in passing that comprehensible is less frequently used than its antonym, incomprehensible.