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Michaelting Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Know/knew
I know you cheated.
I knew you cheated.
(Scenario: Your friend cheated in his exam yesterday and you saw it and know about it. You walk to your friend today and say...)
Please explain. Thank you!
From my point of view, knew means you knew in the past, but don't know about it right now.
I knew you cheated.
(Scenario: Your friend cheated in his exam yesterday and you saw it and know about it. You walk to your friend today and say...)
Please explain. Thank you!
From my point of view, knew means you knew in the past, but don't know about it right now.
Top answer
Both are correct but there's a difference in meaning, of course. I know (now) you cheated (in the past). (this doesn't necessarily mean that you found out later that he cheated in his exam.
- Both are correct but there's a difference in meaning, of course.
- I know (now) you cheated (in the past).
- (this doesn't necessarily mean that you found out later that he cheated in his exam.
- You simply want to convey the fact that you're aware of his cheating) I knew (in the past but also now) you cheated (in the past).
- (Perhaps it doesn't matter anymore that he cheated; it's all long gone and irrelevant now) I'd use the first (know) in this specific example.
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6 Answers
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Both are correct but there's a difference in meaning, of course.
I know (now) you cheated (in the past). (this doesn't necessarily mean that you found out later that he cheated in his exam. You simply want to convey the fact that you're aware of his cheating)
I knew (in the past but also now) you cheated (in the past). (Perhaps it doesn't matter anymore that he cheated; it's all
I know (now) you cheated (in the past). (this doesn't necessarily mean that you found out later that he cheated in his exam. You simply want to convey the fact that you're aware of his cheating)
I knew (in the past but also now) you cheated (in the past). (Perhaps it doesn't matter anymore that he cheated; it's all
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If you refer to http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/simplepast.html
you will see that knew is a completed action. So how can it also refer to now?
you will see that knew is a completed action. So how can it also refer to now?
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Consider the following example
My teacher asked me whether the earth was flat or round. Of course, I knew it was round.
According to your logic, the use of "knew" implies that now you don't know that the earth is round. If you knew something in the past the chances are you still know that something now.
My teacher asked me whether the earth was flat or round. Of course, I knew it was round.
According to your logic, the use of "knew" implies that now you don't know that the earth is round. If you knew something in the past the chances are you still know that something now.
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Oh I see. So knew is more complicated. It means you knew something in the past and at the same time you still know about it. The action knew about it results in know about it.
So you knew about it, now you know about it.
So my question is, the actionknew was never completed in this rare scenario, am I right?
And, in your example, do you mean
So you knew about it, now you know about it.
So my question is, the actionknew was never completed in this rare scenario, am I right?
And, in your example, do you mean
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Firstly, the verb know/knew doesn't denote an action, rather it signifies a state (much like feel, see, hear etc).
Secondly, I used the simple past knew in my sentence because the sentence was about the past tense. I knew that the earth was round at the time my teacher asked me that question. If you asked me now "Do you know whether the earth is flat or round?, my reply would be "I know t
Secondly, I used the simple past knew in my sentence because the sentence was about the past tense. I knew that the earth was round at the time my teacher asked me that question. If you asked me now "Do you know whether the earth is flat or round?, my reply would be "I know t
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michaeltingFrom my point of view, knew means you knew in the past, but don't know about it right now.Suppose you were taking the test yesterday and you saw your friend cheating. You knew he was cheating and you were angry because he was so dishonest.
Would you expect that when you woke up today, the incident would be forgotten? Not really. Yo
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