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Laborious Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

'came to know' or 'knew'

Hello dear teachers,

Is there any difference between the following sentences, please? What should we say, 'came to know'? or simply 'knew'?, when we want to say that we became aware of something at a specific point in the past?

1) How did you come to know about this?

~ I came to know about his when she told me.

2) How did you know about this?
~ I knew about this when she told me.

Thank you.
  

Top answer

'Come to know' = find out

— Mister Micawber

  • 'Come to know' = find out
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5 Answers
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'Come to know' = find out
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Thank you, Mister Micawber, for your reply!

I am still confused here. Could you tell me about the difference between 'to come to know (find out) about something' and 'to know about something', please?

Thank you.
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'Come to know' (find out) is a point-action, i.e., it happens rather instantaneously.
'Know' is a state that we find ourselves in.

I know that I am impatient; I came to know I that when I kicked our dog.
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So, this means that from the examples which I gave in my first post, only the 'I came to know about this when she told me' is the correct and natural sentence, and not the other which was 'I knew about this when she told me'. Could you please confirm if what I've said is right?

Thank you once again!
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Yes. Your #2 sentence is understandable, of course, but it is a little strange.
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