Entiendo pero no comprendo

[enfres]

I've said this a few times and wonder if it means what I intend. In French "ouïr" is archaic except for the negative participle "inouï", which means "unheard of". In other senses it is replaced by "entendre". So what I mean is "I hear all the words, but I don't understand the sentence as a whole". Is that what it sounds like to you, or is it a self-contradictory statement?

[DavidM]

I've said this a few times and wonder if it means what I intend. In French "ouïr" is archaic except for the negative participle "inouï", which means "unheard of". In other senses it is replaced by "entendre". So what I mean is "I hear all the words, but I don't understand the sentence as a whole". Is that what it sounds like to you, or is it a self-contradictory statement?

No, actually is different. To say "I hear all the words but don't understand the sentence" it's not the same as to say "entiendo pero no comprendo" in spanish. Entender and Comprender are synonyms (in spanish), hearing and understanding (in english) don't mean the same thing. So if you want to say in spanish: "I hear but I don't understand", you will have to say: "Te escucho pero no te entiendo/comprendo".

I hope I was able to help you.