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I couldn't find out what verb should I use when I want to say

He was good at dealing with machines, and also he could even 'verb' television internal circuits by himself.

In my language, 'manipulate' is the verb we use (when we literally translate it into English), but I'm not sure if it's an appropraite use in English as well, so I also came up with 'work with', but I guess it's too broad and unclear. Or how about 'design'? can it also be an option?

To sum up, when someone 'manipualtes' the internal circuits by him/herself very well, what verb can be used? Is 'manipulate' also work in English as well? or what else can be used?

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"Manipulate" means strictly means to "handle or control", but it often gives the idea of changing or altering something. He probably isn't changing the television circuits into something else. I assume he's just fixing them.

You could use "troubleshoot", which means to find the problem with something. That's likely what he'd be doing with television circuits.

I probably would not use the word internal there either. The circuits are only inside the television, so it's not needed, and it sounds odd.

He could even troubleshoot television circuits by himself.

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  • Thanks a lot! But I looked up the dictionary and from the definition of 'troubleshoot', it seems like this word is more focused on the problem 'solving', not just 'fixing' it. Can I still use this word when what I want to say is that he could 'fix' or 'deal with' circuits?
    – dbwlsld
    Oct 4, 2017 at 11:14
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    That's true, but that is also the most difficult part. Fixing it is easy once you know what the problem is. Finding the problem shows that you understand how it works.
    – Gabriel Luci
    Oct 4, 2017 at 11:21
  • Oh that's tricky..then can I just go for 'fixing' circuits? Is this sentence 'He could even fix television circuits by himself.' gramatically correct and natural?
    – dbwlsld
    Oct 4, 2017 at 14:12
  • Yes, that works too.
    – Gabriel Luci
    Oct 4, 2017 at 15:03

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