widened our understanding

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "widened our understanding" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it when discussing how new information or experiences have expanded someone's knowledge or perspective on a topic. Example: "The recent research findings have significantly widened our understanding of climate change and its impacts."

✓ Grammatically correct

Science

News & Media

Formal & Business

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

5 human-written examples

The one good thing that has come out of this European debate is that it has widened our understanding of "online safety".

Huffington Post

Recent research have widened our understanding of the relationship between oral health and diabetes [ 22, 23].

BMC Oral Health

Recent discovery of the copy number variation (CNV) in normal individuals has widened our understanding of genomic variation.

Human Molecular Genetics

In addition to single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), the recent discovery of the DNA structural variation in normal individuals has widened our understanding of genomic variation (3, 4).

Human Molecular Genetics

Apart from in vitro studies, miRNA mutant and transgenic lines should be explored as these lines in zebrafish have widened our understanding of the molecular processes that govern the phenotypic outputs of several transcriptional factors, signaling molecules, and genes.

Genome Biology and Evolution

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

54 human-written examples

It widens our understanding of other people and their ways of living".

The Guardian

I imagined the prize would, while including English-speaking writers of course, want to celebrate the work of translation and of translators who so widen our understanding of other countries, other cultures.

The Guardian - Books

It offers a mechanism for conceptualizing and deepening and widening our understanding of the means by which open and complex systems respond to dynamic and unpredictable external variables and, potentially, produce positive outcomes (Manyena and Gordon 2015).

International Journal of Disaster Risk Science

"This research should facilitate further studies of clearly perceived plant-pollinator relationships and thereby widen our understanding of the potential impact of climate change for plants and their pollinators".

BBC

Therefore, in addition to the only available samples, from the 2001 and 2002 03 eruptions, stored in the archives of INGV, a suite of ancient, fine-grained samples from sub-plinian activity was collected to widen our understanding of the potential characteristics of Etnean explosive ash generation.

Journal of Applied Volcanology

In order to further widen our understanding of the above relationship, we significantly identified individual genetic variations in IL28B at the clinical outcome (Figure 2B).

Plosone

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

Use "widened our understanding" to highlight a significant increase in knowledge or a new perspective gained through research, experience, or education.

Common error

Avoid using "widened our understanding" in overly casual or informal conversations. Simpler phrases like "helped us learn more" or "gave us a better idea" may be more appropriate.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "widened our understanding" functions as a verb phrase expressing the result of an action that has expanded knowledge or comprehension. As shown in Ludwig, it describes the effect of new information, research, or experiences.

Expression frequency: Uncommon

Frequent in

Science

40%

News & Media

40%

Formal & Business

20%

Less common in

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

The phrase "widened our understanding" is a grammatically sound expression used to indicate an increase in knowledge or perspective. According to Ludwig, it is most frequently used in scientific, news, and formal business contexts. Alternatives such as "expanded our comprehension" or "broadened our perspective" can provide similar meanings. As Ludwig AI suggests, the phrase is suitable for formal and neutral registers, making it useful in reports, articles, and academic papers, while it should be used with care in more informal contexts. The analysis confirms that the phrase effectively communicates an expansion of knowledge.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

expanded our comprehension

Replaces "understanding" with "comprehension", focusing on the ability to grasp something fully.

broadened our perspective

Shifts the focus to "perspective", emphasizing a wider viewpoint rather than just knowledge.

deepened our insight

Uses "insight" to suggest a more profound level of understanding.

enhanced our awareness

Emphasizes becoming more conscious or informed about something.

improved our grasp

Focuses on gaining a better hold or command of the subject matter.

advanced our knowledge

Highlights the progression and accumulation of factual information.

sharpened our perception

Suggests making our ability to discern and understand more acute.

refined our interpretation

Emphasizes improving the way we explain or understand something.

illuminated our view

Uses a metaphor to express clarifying or making something more understandable.

amplified our cognizance

Cognizance refers to awareness, so this amplifies our awareness or consciousness of something.

FAQs

How can I use "widened our understanding" in a sentence?

You can use "widened our understanding" to indicate that new information or experiences have expanded knowledge or perspective on a specific subject. For example, "The research significantly "widened our understanding" of the disease's mechanisms".

What are some alternatives to "widened our understanding"?

Depending on the context, alternatives to "widened our understanding" include "expanded our comprehension", "broadened our perspective", or "deepened our insight".

Is it correct to say "widen our understanding" instead of "widened our understanding"?

The correct form depends on the grammatical context. "Widen our understanding" is an infinitive phrase or a command, while "widened our understanding" is the past tense form, indicating that the understanding has already increased.

What is the difference between "increased our understanding" and "widened our understanding"?

"Increased our understanding" suggests a quantitative growth in knowledge, whereas ""widened our understanding"" often implies a broadening of scope or perspective, encompassing new aspects or viewpoints of a subject.