Might know/ might knew

Question

Hi,Which one of the following three sentences is more accurate?  I used #1 in a conversation, but I was not sure about it. I thought ‘knew’ to be more appropriate because I was telling the other person what I thought at the instant when I read the news. 1. When I read the news, I thought you might knew about it.2. When I read the news, I thought you might know about it.3. When I read the news, I thought you might have known about it.Thanks,MG.

BarbaraPA · Accepted Answer

1 is not a good choice.

2 is a good choice if you think the person might know more about the subject than what you read in the news.

3 is a good choice if you think the person might have known about the the subject before it every appeared in the news.

CalifJim · Answer

MusicgoldI thought ‘knew’ to be more appropriate because I was telling the other person what I thought at the instant when I read the news.

might is a modal verb. The only verb form you can place after a modal verb is the base form (the dictionary form), not a past tense or any other form. knew is the past of know, not the base form, so it is not grammatical to use might knew. Use either 2 or 3, not 1. know and have are both base forms, so both might know and might have (known) are OK.

The difference between 2 and 3 is as follows:

2. When I read the news, I thought this: It is possible that you know about it (now).
3. When I read the news, I thought this: It is possible that you knew about it (had already heard the news previously).

CJ

Musicgold · Answer

Grammer geek and Califjim,

Thanks a lot.

Might know/ might knew

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