Aug 9, 2008 17:27
16 yrs ago
English term

If I

Non-PRO English Other Linguistics
1 - If I had known then what I know now

OR

2 - If I knew then what I know now?

Many thanks
Change log

Aug 10, 2008 00:20: Tony M changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (2): writeaway, Richard Benham

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Discussion

Nesrin Aug 9, 2008:
If I knew You would say "If I knew" to refer to the present, eg: "If I knew how to do this it would make things much easier".

Responses

+14
3 mins
Selected

If I had known then what I know now

.
Note from asker:
Thanks a million.
Peer comment(s):

agree Mónica Sauza
1 min
thanks :)
agree Patricia Townshend (X)
2 mins
thanks :)
agree Monica Colangelo : definitely.
8 mins
thanks :)
agree Nesrin
14 mins
Thanks Nesrin :)
agree Dana Rinaldi
49 mins
Thanks :)
agree Rachel Fell : though thought US might be different
49 mins
thanks :)
agree Demi Ebrite : I agree absolutely for 'written' verbiage, but for verbal usage, 'If I knew then . . .' is most common in US English conversation.
2 hrs
very true - thanks :)
agree Gary D : also "If I'd known at the time, what I know now"
5 hrs
thanks :)
agree Tania McConaghy
5 hrs
thanks :)
agree Astrid Elke Witte
5 hrs
thanks :)
agree Olga Layer
5 hrs
thanks :)
agree Tony M
6 hrs
thanks :)
agree orientalhorizon
16 hrs
thanks :)
agree Jürgen Lakhal De Muynck
17 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you all very much."
+2
10 mins

If I had known then what I know now

This is what I would say as a British speaker, but I have a feeling US usage might be different.
Note from asker:
Thanks a million.
Peer comment(s):

agree Rachel Fell : I would too, as a UK speaker - and I also would have thought US usage might be different
41 mins
agree orientalhorizon
16 hrs
Something went wrong...
+6
28 mins

Had I known then...

A way to say it.
Note from asker:
Thanks a million.
Peer comment(s):

agree liz askew : My knee-jerk reaction was "If I knew then what I know now".//Seriously: http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:I0BDbhD2aJwJ:www.ashrid...
8 mins
agree Olga Layer
5 hrs
agree Astrid Elke Witte : Yes, this is slightly more elegant.
5 hrs
agree Adela Porumbel
6 hrs
agree Tony M
6 hrs
agree orientalhorizon
16 hrs
Something went wrong...
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