"tenir compte" versus "rendre compte"

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Permalink Reply by Chantal Savignat on March 15, 2013 at 7:56am

Hello Alan

They have not the same meaning :

"tenir compte" = "to consider", "to take something into account"

"rendre compte" =  "to report", "to explain"

there is "se rendre compte de"  too = "to discover", "to understand" with the meaning "to realize"

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Permalink Reply by alan gould on March 15, 2013 at 6:05pm

I’m aware there are other ways to use the two and I should have included the "se" in the reflexive, but it seems the difference is vague or nonexistent when using “se rendre compte” as “to realize or be aware.”  I started reading a grammar book written in French and encountered the sentence “Cependant il faut tenir compte de certaines différences.”  I looked up “tenir compte” and in this case it is translated as “to take into account.”   So in the French sentence, it seems “se rendre compte” is the same thing.              

 

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Permalink Reply by Chantal Savignat on March 15, 2013 at 8:57pm

Do you want to say that in this sentence “Cependant il faut tenir compte de certaines différences.” it seems "se rendre compte" = "tenir compte" ?

If it's that, no.

“Cependant il faut tenir compte de certaines différences.” > this sentence means there are some differences and you must have a different behavior according to theses differences.

There is the idea of condition and you have to adapt your  behavior or your actions to this condition.

but if you say “Cependant il faut se rendre compte de certaines différences.” > is used when you must be aware, realize something but nothing else and nothing about your behavior.

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