This article takes its cue from Vermeer’s seminal 1978 publication, “Ein Rahmen für eine allgemeine Translationstheorie”, in which he argues that translation ‘errors’ do not necessarily involve dysfunctionality. The connection between the concept of ‘errors’ and the communicative function of a translation has been widely discussed in Translation Studies, as have the implications of this connection for translation teaching and learning. However, the teacher’s ability to judge a given translation’s coherence with the real or fictitious target situation often seems to be taken for granted. In this article, the author shall discuss the role that negotiation and power play in assessing coherence. She shall argue that, while Vermeer’s dictum can help us relativize and contextualize the importance of ‘errors’, it can also draw attention away from the difficulties of applying the coherence rule to classroom translations (or, in fact, to translations in general).