Not that you would know, Not that you would have known*

Question

When to use this expressions? Please provide some example sentences.1) Not that you would know it2) Not that you would have known it

Dave_anon · Accepted Answer

Hi

1) The phrase is used when saying something that is true, but there is no evidence that would lead anyone to believe it:

- My next door neighbour seems to hold wild parties every night. He is a high court judge, not that you would know it.

- Our local shopping mall looks awful. It was repainted recently, not that you would know it.

2) The phrase is used in a similar way, except that the time when you could have claimed to know the fact is now in the past:

- We were shocked when Mrs Smith was taken into hospital last week. She had been been seriously ill for a month or more, not that you would have known it.

- According to the government, our living standards increased by 10% in 2018; not that you would have known it.

Hope this helps

Dave

CalifJim · Answer

Mr. Roberts is the richest man in town, not that you would know it from looking at his house.

Mr. Roberts's house doesn't look at all like a very rich man would be living there. You would never guess that he is so rich if the only thing you knew about him was how his house looks.

When the soldiers faced the superior forces of the enemy, they made a run for it, not that you would have known that from the glowing official description of this particular battle. In fact, the battle was a terrible failure.

Everyone thought the battle was successful because the official accounts said so. They did not know that the battle was a failure because the official accounts were the only reports about it that they were able to find.

CJ

Not that you would know, Not that you would have known*

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