Breakdown of Недооценить проблему — значит сделать её ещё хуже.
она
she / it (for a feminine noun)
проблема
problem
сделать
to do (perfective) / to make (perfective)
ещё
still, more
хуже
worse
значить
to mean
недооценить
to underestimate
Questions & Answers about Недооценить проблему — значит сделать её ещё хуже.
How does the prefix недо- change the meaning of оценить in this sentence?
The verb оценить means "to evaluate" or "to assess." Adding the prefix недо- indicates that an action was done insufficiently or fell short of what was needed. Therefore, недооценить means "to underestimate" or "to undervalue."
Based on this lesson's theme, how would I say "to overestimate" the problem?
You would use the prefix пере-, which indicates an action taken to excess. By replacing недо- with пере-, you get переоценить (to overestimate). So, "to overestimate the problem" is переоценить проблему.
Why is there an em-dash (—) right before значит?
In Russian, when both the subject and the predicate of a sentence are infinitive verbs (in this case, недооценить and сделать), they are separated by an em-dash. The word значит (means) acts as a bridge connecting these two concepts, similar to saying "to do X equals doing Y."
Doesn't хуже already mean "worse"? Why do we need ещё here?
Yes, хуже is the comparative form meaning "worse." Adding ещё (which normally means "still" or "more") right before a comparative word translates to "even" in English. It emphasizes the degree of the comparison, making ещё хуже mean "even worse."
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