Making sense (Make, part 7)

Someone with a very nice command of English suggested a post about making sense. If something makes sense, it's understandable. This is a very good quality in things that are supposed to convey information, like financial reports. If your boss comes to you and says, "these number don't make sense," a slightly nervous feeling may attack your stomach. On the other hand, it's great when you explain everything to her and she says, "ok, now it all makes perfect sense."

To make sense of something is to make it understandable for yourself or someone else. For example, people say it's not easy to make sense of signs when visiting China or Japan.

There's another nuance with make sense, though. When we want to comment on something as being commonsensical, we say "it makes sense." For example, it makes sense to try to get the best conditions when you're negotiating something, like a contract, mortgage, etc. Likewise, it doesn't make sense to spend money foolishly.

Finally, we often say "it makes sense to me" or "it didn't make sense to him."

Does all this make sense to you?

P.S. Thanks again for the suggestion!