Difference Between Apprehension and Comprehension

Apprehension vs Comprehension

The word Apprehension, not only differ with the word comprehension but also has different meanings within it. A kind of nervous fear related to something either known or unknown is called apprehension. Apprehension also may mean an idea by observation. In the criminal procedure, the word ‘apprehension’ has a different meaning. It means the taking of a suspect into custody. The word ‘apprehension’ has another formal meaning too attached to it; it is used in the sense of ‘ability to understand’. Comprehension on the other hand means the perfect understanding of something. This is where the two words are confusing.

Observe the usage in the sentence, ‘he had the apprehension about its purpose’. It gives a meaning that he had the ability to understand about its purpose. The word ‘comprehension’ on the other hand means ‘the grasping of the meaning of something ’. It implies the mental ability to grasp the total significance of something. Apprehension is also from the faculty of comprehending. The word understanding is complex, it involve the amount of knowledge one has, its type and its degree of interlinking in a person’s mind.

The words apprehension and comprehension refer to two different mental processes of grasping or taking hold of experience. Apprehension is the ability to understand something by relying on tangible or concrete experience. A simple example is when you touch the fire it will burn your finger. This experience can lead you apprehending that you should not touch fire. Whereas comprehension does not require concrete experience to understand, it is the ability to understand through reliance on conceptual interpretation and symbolic representation. Comprehension means the complete process of understanding, to perceive, interpret and process knowledge. In the examination point of view a comprehension means an exercise characterized by questions based on a short paragraph or text. A comprehension is to test the aptitude of the student.

Linguists tend to define comprehension as ‘understanding and deciding’. They define apprehension as ‘understanding and hesitating’. It is thus for sure that comprehension ends in decision whereas apprehension ends in hesitation. Comprehension at time paves the way for discussion too, whereas apprehension paves the way for imagination.

Apprehension results from doubt whereas comprehension is free of doubt. In other words there is an element of doubt in apprehension whereas comprehension is completely devoid of doubt as it is characterized by through understanding.

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