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meaning of "know of"



 
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ESL Forums | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
Differences between 'with a view to' and 'in view of' | grammatical form "to except for"
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meaning of "know of" Sun Aug 03, 2008 17:56 pm  meaning of "know of"
 

Hi, please have a look at this sentence:

Not wanting anyone to know of her return, Meggie rode out to Drogheda on the mail truck with old Bluey Williams.

=> Can we omit "of" in the sentence above? and what's the difference between the two versions?
I personally think we shouldn't omit "of", but either using "of" or replacing "of" with "about" may be all right.

Thank you in advance.
Nessie.
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"know of"? Sun Aug 03, 2008 18:07 pm  "know of"?
 

I agree that replacing it with "know about" is okay.
Barb_D
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"know of"? Sun Aug 03, 2008 18:11 pm  "know of"?
 

Spot on, Nessie.
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"know of"? Tue Aug 05, 2008 9:23 am  "know of"?
 

Thanks a lot, Barb and Pamela Smile
But could you please tell me why omitting "of" or "about" make the sentence wrong? I know it is, but I just can't explain.
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Sad... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know.. Sad

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...
Nessie
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 16 Feb 2008
Posts: 1088

"know of"? Tue Aug 05, 2008 9:38 am  "know of"?
 

Hi Nessie,

'Know' with a direct object indicates having firsthand knowledge of. By adding prepositions such as 'of' and 'about' you are removing the 'firsthand' element. 'Know of' suggests having information of perhaps through a secondary source. 'Know about' again indicates having information of but not in any detail.

In your sentence:Not wanting anyone to know of her return ... the meaning here is similar to 'hearing/learning about'. Similarly 'know about' can be used here. But you can't really 'know her return' because the word 'return' is too vague here to be a direct object of 'know' You would have to create a dependent sentence as: 'know that she had returned/was returning'.

Alan
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"know of"? Tue Aug 05, 2008 17:10 pm  "know of"?
 

Thank you so much for your very clear explanation, Alan SmileSmileSmile
Nessie.
_________________
Sad... something we never have again, I know... I guess I really really know.. Sad

Sorry seems to be the hardest word...
Nessie
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 16 Feb 2008
Posts: 1088

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