English Grammar?

Question

What is the difference between these two sentences?1) She has known about it.2) She knew about it.Thanks! ^-^

KJinCali79 · Accepted Answer

1) I am unsure, what is the context? "Has known" is present perfect tense. Did you mean "had known"?

2) She was aware of, or had some information about whatever "it" is referring to, at some unspecified time in the past.

Bassa · Answer

Thanks! For example: is it correct to say "she has known about this problem the entire time." Or should it be "She had known about this problem the entire time."?

CalifJim · Answer

bassaShe has known about it. ...She knew about it.

X = the present moment

She has known about it. (from some time in the past until now)
.............. [ ------------ knowledge of the situation ----------]X............

She knew about it. (at that time in the past)
... [ --- knowledge of the situation ---] .............................X............

In the first case the speaker wants to emphasize that she still has knowledge of the situation at the time this is said.
In the second case the speaker wants to emphasize that she had knowledge of the situation at a particular time in the past.
________________________

If you have a secondary reference time in the past, R, you can have this:

She had known about it. (from some time in the past until another time in the past)
... [ --- knowledge of the situation ---]R ..........................X............

You need more context to use these. Without knowing the reference point R, for example, it makes no sense to say had known.

CJ

Grammarfreak · Answer

bassa is it correct to say "she has known about this problem the entire time." Or should it be "She had known about this problem the entire time."?

Scenario 1) Her boyfriend has a problem with his temper. He pushed her on the couch last night during an argument.

She has known about his temper problem since they started dating 3 months ago. The present perfect tense means she has knowledge about his hot temper the whole time they were dating.

Scenario 2) Her boyfriend has a problem with his temper. She (only ) knew / learned about it recently. ( recent past time, not the whole time).

Scenario 3) She had known about this temper through her friends prior to dating him 3 months ago. Past perfect is used to define the relationship between two past events.

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