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Pructus Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

Should have known

"He should have known it by now." can mean two different meanings?

1. I guess or believe he knows it now.
2. He doesn't know it now, and that is not good. He is in a position that requires him to know that.
  

Top answer

I don't find this sentence very natural. Normally you would say "He should know it by now". This has the two possible meanings that you describe.

— GPY

  • I don't find this sentence very natural.
  • Normally you would say "He should know it by now".
  • This has the two possible meanings that you describe.
  • Your pattern works with verbs describing a process/action that has a completed state: "He should have finished it by now", "He should have learnt it by now", etc.
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7 Answers
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I don't find this sentence very natural. Normally you would say "He should know it by now". This has the two possible meanings that you describe.

Your pattern works with verbs describing a process/action that has a completed state: "He should have finished it by now", "He should have learnt it by now", etc.
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I don't have any problems with 'should have known by now' but I find the 'it' after the phrase very unnatural.

For example

I should have known by now that you are an avid runner.
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IvanhrI don't have any problems with 'should have known by now' but I find the 'it' after the phrase very unnatural. For exampleI should have known by now that you are an avid runner.
Personally, I think I would, by preference, still use "I should know by now that ...", but I agree that this one sounds less unnatural. I think there may be a crossover with the
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Thanks Ivanhr!!
IvanhrI should have known by now that you are an avid runner.
Then, does this "I should have known by now that you are an avid runner" mean two meanings?
1. I know now that you are an avid runner.
2. I didn't know that you are an avid runner until now, but it's not good that I didn't know until now.
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Oh, Thanks again, GPY!!
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pructusThen, does this "I should have known by now that you are an avid runner" mean two meanings?1. I know now that you are an avid runner.2. I didn't know that you were an avid runner until now, but it's not good that I didn't know until now.
This sentence would be understood to mean the same as "I should know by now that..." (which for me is preferre
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Oh, GPY, Thanks for the clarification!!

That makes it very clear to me....
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