2

(Before someone told me that he was a vegetarian)

I had not known that he was a vegetarian.

I had never known that he was a vegetarian.

It seems that the first sentence is correct while the second is wrong or doesn't make sense. I have no idea why they are totally different: one is correct, but the other is wrong. Could you please explain why?

Improve this question
14
  • 3
    From what source does it 'seem' that the second is wrong?
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Oct 5, 2022 at 7:38
  • 3
    "I never knew you were a vegetarian" is a valid sentence - a more emphatic way of saying "I didn't know...".
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Oct 5, 2022 at 7:50
  • 1
    "I never knew that..." is idiomatic, but it's true that "I had never known that..." is not. I don't know why - it's just the way the language is.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Oct 5, 2022 at 8:09
  • 3
    @KateBunting - I had never known that Japanese fried rice could be as good as Chinese fried rice. But now after having tasted at least three types of their fried rice, ... (Trip Advisor review of 'Zento Sushi') - 'I had never known that beauty and death could go together.' Joanna Ebenstein runs Brooklyn's Museum of Morbid Anatomy (quoted on Wisconsin Public Radio), 'I had never known that this indiscretion on my part had gotten to be known as far away as England.' From diaries of Thomas Merton, 'arguably the most influential American Catholic author of the twentieth century'.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Oct 5, 2022 at 8:59
  • 1
    The quoted 'sources' are a bunch of random people on a forum. I had never known there was such a thing as a toilet museum until I found one in New Delhi. I had never known that chocolate could be disgusting until I tasted a Hershey Bar.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Oct 5, 2022 at 9:58

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
-1

Instead of this:

I had not known that he was a vegetarian.

Use this:

I didn't know he was a vegetarian.

And instead of this:

I had never known that he was a vegetarian.

Use this:

I never knew he was a vegetarian.

Improve this answer
1
  • The past perfect could well be more appropriate in context than are your recommended replacements.
    – Paul Tanenbaum
    Commented Nov 9, 2023 at 17:18

You must log in to answer this question.

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