Uncertainty is part and parcel of the everyday for a professional translator. It stems from multiple flaws in the original message and the translator’s capacity to immediately understand this message. Using an example from a practical text, our analysis will deal with removing uncertainty by applying the Interpretive Theory of Translation developed by Danica Seleskovitch (1921-2001) and Marianne Lederer. By using the theory, a competent translator should normally be able to assemble all the information required to establish a functional equivalence between the original text and the translation. The analysis will nevertheless highlight some areas of uncertainty that are inherent to the Interpretive Theory itself in this respect. We therefore suggest enriching the Interpretive Theory with the concepts and methods of John Dewey’s Theory of Inquiry so as to resolve the uncertainties of the Interpretive Theory. Far from calling into question the theory and its completely workable aspect for translation and interpretation professionals, this article is thus part of the wider intellectual discussion on pragmatic approaches to translation that the founders of the Interpretive Theory of Translation sought to achieve.