The present paper discusses the process of apprehending meaning in translation and aims at determining types of interpretive competence in translation which have not been fully described. The article shows that cognitive activities involved in text-understanding can be indentified at various levels, and that it is possible to pinpoint the textual and extratextual elements which cause diffuclties, and thereby to identify the comprehension skills students need. The author argues that understanding comprehension errors is essential to the analysis of translation processes. Comprehension is the end result of a series of interconnected operations which are not easy to identify separately unless they present specific difficulties. These difficulties can then be explored step by step so that they come to reveal specific mental operations. Lastely, the author argues that checking that correct understanding has been achieved helps to motivate students.