"rendere conto" means "to answer for" Examples: "il ladro rendera' conto dei suoi furti in un tribunale" "The thief will answer for his thefts in a law court" "Burt Simpson deve rendere conto delle sue bugie a Homer" "Burt Simpson has to answer for his lies to Homer" "il Primo Ministro dovette rendere conto delle sue decisioni di fronte al Parlamento" "The Prime Minister answered for his decisions in front of the Parliament" Also you can say "rispondere di" instead "rendere conto". "Il ladro rispondera' dei suoi furti in un tribunale"

:-) sorry I tought you were French.

In French exists "rendre compte de" or "se rendre compte de". The latter is a reflexive form and it means "to realize, to understand, to comprehend" "rendersi conto" in Italian. I guess it's the same. Io mi rendo conto che ho una buona possibilità. I realize I have a lot of chance. je me rend compte que j'ai beaucoup de chance.