1

1) Little do we know how much its main actors charge for the role.

2) We know Little about how much its main actors charge for the role.

My question here is, how does "DO WE KNOW" effect the overall meaning of the 1st sentence so that it makes a difference as compared to 2nd one? The confusion here for me is mainly because usually we use "do we know" while making questions. Here the same form is conveying some information.

Improve this question
1
  • 1
    I think the two sentences mean almost the same thing. The second sentence says that we know little; but the first sentence says that we know little and this is surprising and remarkable. I agree that this word order (do we know) is often used with questions, but here it's not a question.
    – Chaim
    Commented May 11, 2017 at 15:03

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
1

Appropriate usage would be as follows:

"Little did he know, that by stopping to pick up the 50 pence piece from the pavement, he had sealed his own fate. Moments later he was hit by a massive asteroid and died."

or

"He did not know, that by stopping to pick up the 50 pence piece from the pavement, he had sealed his own fate. Moments later he was hit by a massive asteroid and died."

Improve this answer
3
  • Which form is this? I mean, is there a specific terminology to start a sentence like this? –
    – Gt_R
    Commented May 11, 2017 at 15:18
  • I know nothing about form, all I know is that it is another way of saying 'did not know'. Typically I have seen this used in storytelling as a way of implicating a consequence, thus creating suspense.
    – Chris Percival
    Commented May 11, 2017 at 16:09
  • I think both commas in both your examples are at least "unwanted", if not actually "ungrammatical".
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented May 11, 2017 at 16:42
1

Note that except in one very specific context, the first cited example is not idiomatically acceptable. Normally, the basic construction...

Little do they know X (note "they", not "we")

is only used where X is some "fact" that they don't know - often, the writer/speaker is effectively gloating over their ignorance (that's causing them to make a mistake, which pleases the speaker).

Note that in OP's context, where X = how much the actors charge, this doesn't actually mean the amount the actors charge is unknown. What it means is the amount the actors charge is very high (but "they" don't know that). Compare to exclamatory How kind you are! = You are very kind!

If you think about it, you should therefore realise that this construction doesn't make sense with a first person (singular or plural, I or we) subject and the present tense verb know.

A credible example using a first person subject would require a past tense verb. For example,...

I gave the street beggar £5. Little did I know how much he "earns" by begging. I discovered later that he makes more in one afternoon than I earn for a whole week's work at the factory.

...where obviously the implication is that if I had known how much he was making, I probably wouldn't have given him any money at all.

It might initially seem strange to a non-native speaker, but Little did he know how little I knew! is a perfectly acceptable construction, where the speaker is asserting that she knows very little (but he didn't know that, which was to her advantage).

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .