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So, I'm to translate a sentence to English. It's something like:

We've succeeded in coming to an understanding ______ all questions discussed.

I suppose that I should use either about or in to fill the blank in the sentence above. Here is a paraphrased sentence so that you're able to understand the meaning better:

We've discussed several questions and we've come to the same opinion on every one of them.

(Aside: I wonder if I used the correct preposition in the sentence above.)

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  • Do you mean that the parties have come to an understanding - i.e. they understand each other's point of view. Or do you mean that all parties understand the questions? They are two different things.
    – chasly - supports Monica
    Commented Sep 30, 2015 at 20:53
  • @chaslyfromUK They reached an agreement, as you said below
    – Dmitry Sopov
    Commented Sep 30, 2015 at 21:00
  • Can you give two full sentences to contrast? I don't know which preposition location is being questioned.
    – Mitch
    Commented Oct 1, 2015 at 13:52

3 Answers 3

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We've succeeded in coming to an understanding on each of the questions discussed.

This implies that if each question were enumerated, agreement would be note for each and every one.

But "succeeded" and "discussed" are arguably redundant. This is equivalent:

We've come to an understanding on each of the questions.

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  • Thanks, guess I'll go with your answer. As for redundancy of "succeeded", there is a word in the Russian version of this sentence that needs to be translated this way. However, there is a slight difference between "succeeded in coming..." and just "come to" - the former option emphasizes the fact that we actually came to the same opinion while it might have seemed quite improbable before. It depends on the context... Anyway, thanks for the answer once more!
    – Dmitry Sopov
    Commented Sep 30, 2015 at 21:15
  • Yes, I agree that "succeeded" emphasizes that there was some labor in the negotiation.
    – egrunin
    Commented Sep 30, 2015 at 21:17
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I think you probably don't need either, but instead making it a little more clear as to what we have all come to understand:

"We've succeeded in coming to understanding all of the questions discussed."

or possibly:

"We've succeeded in coming to understand all of the questions discussed."

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  • I am not convinced. It depends what you want it to mean. The version you give means that you understand (comprehend) the questions. A more usual version would be, "We've succeeded in coming to an understanding about (with respect to) all questions discussed." That means that we understand each other - we have come to an agreement (or perhaps a compromise).
    – chasly - supports Monica
    Commented Sep 30, 2015 at 20:48
  • @chaslyfromUK true. Edited.
    – Michael Rader
    Commented Sep 30, 2015 at 20:51
  • Thanks, sir, but I suppose your answer implies the literal meaning of the word "understanding" whereas I mean "agreement" meaning
    – Dmitry Sopov
    Commented Sep 30, 2015 at 21:17
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"We have come to an understanding of all the questions discussed" implies that we collectively came to understand the questions themselves.

"We have come to an understanding about all the questions discussed" means that there was some debate among us about the intent (not the meaning) of the questions that were discussed, and we came to an understanding or agreement with each other about how to react or respond to those questions, or collectively decided (for example) that we should allow the questions to be asked to other people, etc.

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